Motivation
by No Guns Only Roses
Summary: He finally did it. He finally conquered planet Earth. But he didn't do it for his Tallest or the Irken Empire. No, this was all about vengeance.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm SUPER excited about Invader Zim returning! So I wrote an Invader Zim fic! But those of you in the TMNT fandom already know me as a "heartbreaker", so you know what to expect. For those of you who don't know me, be prepared...**

 **The Present**

 _This just in: the alien invader has arrived in Washington, D.C. Residents have been ordered to evacuate the city as soon as possible, while the military continues to fire at the giant robot that is approaching the White House. But it doesn't look like the robot will be_ _slowing down anytime soon. As for President Man, he is just now being escorted to the helicopter that will take him away from the Capitol._

"Hurry, Mr. President Man!" an agent dragged the leader of the U.S toward the helicopter that awaited them, its blades spinning and producing a great wind. "We haven't a moment to lose!"

But the cross-eyed, deranged old man struggled to get out of the man's grasp. "No, wait! We can't leave yet! I left my baseball cards and favorite choo-choo train in my room!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you back into the White House, sir!" the agent said as they got closer to the helicopter. "I've been entrusted with your safety, and by God, I will make sure that no harm comes to-"

A giant metallic foot suddenly stomped on the helicopter, completely crushing it. President Man and his agent both gapped at the destruction before them before slowly lifting their heads to the owner of the foot. The robot that had gotten through America's best defense system and completely obliterated more than half of the country was now standing over them. A silhouette with large red eyes glared down at them through the dome that was the robot's head.

"He-Here!" the agent suddenly pushed President Man toward the looming machine. "Take him! But don't hurt me!" The cowardly man tried to run away from the area, but then a beam of light showered over him, and once it had dissipated, there was nothing left of him but a black, hot spot on the ground.

President Man jump started to cry and he got on his knees, looking up at the robot with pleading, scared eyes. "Please don't hurt me!" he begged. "We-we surrender! Take whatever you want! Just don't hurt me!" He bowed low to the alien invader while continuing to pathetically cry.

The dome hissed as it slowly lifted, and the new conqueror of Earth stepped out and quickly climbed down the machine. Two black boots landed on the grass and walked over to the bowing President. The former leader heard the footsteps get closer and slowly lifted his head from the ground.

A little green alien in a red tunic and wearing black gloves stared down at him with cold, bloodthirsty red eyes. The antennas on his head sank back and he curled his lips into a snarl to reveal horrible zipper teeth.

"You are asking for Zim's mercy?" he hissed.

Frantically, President Man nodded his head, more tears spilling from out of his eyes.

The invader merely scoffed and a long metallic spider leg popped out of his pak. "You will not get any mercy from me, hu-man," he spat out the last word in disgust as he aimed the sharp tip of the leg at the man's forehead, making him cry even more. "Because you don't deserve it. None of you filthy Earth beasts deserve the mercy of Zim."

The leg came down with full force, and blood splattered all over his face.

* * *

 **Two Months Ago**

The door to the Deetention room slammed open, and the underpaid, disgruntled supervisor looked up from his newspaper to see the hideous Ms. Bitters holding two students by the collars of their shirts. He recognized them as Dib Membrane, the big-headed son of the world renowned Professor Membrane, and Zim, the wierd green-skinned foreign student who always screamed his head off.

Ms. Bitters slithered into the room like a snake with her students still in her grasp. " _This_ one brought a gun to class!" she said as she lifted Zim before lifting Dib, as well. "And _this_ one is annoying!"

The supervisor lifted an eyebrow and lowered his glasses. "Okay, him, I can understand," he pointed at Zim. "But _why_ exactly is Membrane in Deetention?"

"Why not?" Dib sarcastically mumbled, before being silenced by Bitters' bloodcurdling hissing. The teacher shoved them both into their desks before slithering out of the room within a matter of seconds.

The supervisor cleared his throat before getting out of his chair and reaching for something in one of the drawers of his desk. "Well, you two will be stuck with me for the next three hours. Sounds boring, right?"

The two said nothing and continued to pout, glancing at each other hatefully.

"Well, not to worry," he pulled out two large bundles of paper. "You will be quite busy for the next three hours." He slammed a bundle and pencil on Dib and Zim's desk. "Your assignment is to write a ten-page report on what you did wrong with your lives. If you're not finished by the end of the day...eh, whatever. Just don't disrupt my reading time." He walked back to his desk and resumed his reading, chuckling at the comics on the funny page.

Grumbling, Dib took his penci and began to write, but he stopped for a moment to glance at Zim, who was nonchalantly balancing the pencil on his lower lip.

"How can you be so calm?" Dib sneered.

"Eh?" Zim looked over at Dib with his "human" eyes.

"You made a big mistake in bringing that shrink ray to class, Spaceboy," Dib chuckled darkly. "Surely they'll wonder why a 'normal' human boy would have a shrinking device in his backpack."

Now Zim was the one chuckling, and this concerned Dib.

"Foolish Dib," Zim spun the pencil around in his gloved fingers. "Did you really think I'd leave any of my weapons in the possession of this...fffffilthy skool? After Bitters confiscated the shrink ray and put it in her desk, I activated the emergency self-destruct sequence. It's nothing but a pile of ashes now. So much for your 'evidence'. Bah ha ha ha!"

This greatly angered Dib and he unconsciously snapped the pencil right in half. He instantly regretted it, though. "Oh, great," he mumbled. He noticed that Zim was still fiddling with his pencil. "Hey, uh, since you're not using yours, can I...?" Before Dib could even finish, the pencil was thrown at his head, and it harmlessly bounced off him with a _boink_. "Thanks," he muttered as he bent down to pick it up.

He resumed his writing, though he couldn't help but wonder about something. Without looking up from his paper, Dib asked Zim, "So why did you bring a shrink ray to skool in the first place?"

"I was going to shrink your hippo-sized head," Zim answered almost immediately, his arms folded and his feet resting on the desk.

Dib rolled his eyes. "Ha ha, very funny."

Zim wasn't laughing, though. "No, really."

At this, Dib turned to look at Zim, and by the look on his face, he could see that the alien was, indeed, being serious. "You...were going to shrink my head?"

"Hmm," Zim nodded.

"But why?"

"Because it makes me sick to look at your _ugly_ face every day in that classroom. And obviously, the other children feel the same way," Zim added with a cruel grin. "By shrinking your head to the size of a pea, Zim would've been doing the whole class a favor. Especially Mosley, since your head blocks his view of the blackboard."

Dib growled and turned his attention back to the paper. "I'm well aware that everyone hates me."

Zim grunted in agreement. "Yes, they do."

"You don't have to rub it in," Dib hissed. "I already have to live with the fact that people will always think I'm crazy just because I don't think like them or see the world the way they do. I'll never be accepted by them."

The alien snickered. "Yes, it is rather pathetic. To be an outcast on your own planet. To be hated by your own species and never be taken...seriously..."

 _"Besides, no invader has ever been so...very small. You're very small, Zim. You're a tiny thing."_

Zim bit his lower lip, his squeedly-spooch aching for some reason. He quickly changed the subject. "So...why _is_ your head so big?"

"My head's not big," Dib mumbled, still working on his report.

"Is that so? Well, then, you are either in denial or you are stupid."

" _You're_ stupid."

"Hmph."

Nothing more was said between them for the next thirty minutes. While Dib was preoccupied with his report, Zim was bored out of his mind, fidgeting in his desk and occasionally popping his lips, much to Dib's annoyance.

Then Dib felt something hit the side of his face. It didn't hurt, but it certainly caught his attention. He looked down at the floor to find a paper airplane and reached down to pick it up. He unfolded it and read the words, "YOU STINK!" in red ink, plus a "Love, Zim," at the bottom right-hand corner. Dib glared at the alien, who pretended to be innocent and whistled.

Dib noticed that though he was nearly finished with his assignment, there was still plenty of paper left in his bundle. Taking a spare, he wrote something down and then folded the paper into an airplane. He threw it at Zim's head, but the alien caught before it could hit him. Zim unfolded it and read the message, "YOU SMELL!" and a, "Love, Dib," at the bottom left-hand corner.

Zim growled deep in his throat and took another paper from his bundle. He folded another airplane and threw it at Dib. The human dodged it and made another airplane of his own. He threw it at Zim, who merely flicked it away. Then Dib folded another airplane, and then another. Zim did the same, and paper airplanes flew everywhere in the classroom. Amazingly, the supervisor never even noticed the paper war that was happening around him. Well, actually, it was because he was already asleep in his sleep with the newspaper covering his face.

Zim could hear the sound of laugher filling the room as they continued with the paper airstrike. He peeked over his desk to find Dib smiling and giggling as he folded another airplane from behind his own desk. And someone else was laughing in the room, but who? It couldn't have possibly been the fat, smelly lord of Deetention. So it must've been...

 _...Zim?_

The invader immediately stopped laughing as he realized that he was actually having _fun_ with...the Dib! His sworn enemy! The very spike in his thigh! No! This was absolute madness! He mustn't lose sight of his mission! The reason he came to this ball of dirt and mud in the first place! He was ZIM! Soon-to-be-conqueror of-

"What's the matter, Zim?" he heard Dib laugh. "Giving up already? If you can't beat me at paper airplane fights, what makes you think you can take over the world?"

Zim narrowed his eyes in determination and grabbed another airplane. Zim? Give up? Never!

* * *

Over forty airplanes later, Zim and Dib sat on the floor together, panting and chuckling weakly. The supervisor continued to snore loudly underneath his newspaper. Paper airplanes were scattered about them.

"Not...bad...Spaceboy," Dib gasped.

"Heh heh...you...fight well...Earth-smell," Zim admitted.

"You know," Dib softly said as he picked up a nearby paper airplane and fiddled with it, "this is the first time I've ever played this game with...well, anybody. I haven't had this much fun in years."

"Eh?" Zim tilted his head in confusion. "'Game'? I thought we were engaging in another battle for Earth, like we always do."

Dib instantly realized what he just said and cleared his throat, crumbling the paper into a ball. "Um, right. Why would I ever play games with _you_? I hate your guts." He threw the paper ball at Zim's head and turned his back to him.

The alien didn't dodge or catch it this time, and it bounced off his black wig. "Yes," Zim quietly agreed and turned away as well, "and Zim hates the Dib. So very much so."

Save for the supervisor's snoring, it was very quiet in the room. Then Dib finally spoke, "We should probably clean up this place before he wakes up. Otherwise, we might end up going to Deetention for the rest of the year."

Zim shuddered at the thought of being locked in Deetention with Dib every day and immediately helped him pick up the airplanes.

...

It was finally time for them to go home, and they headed for the front entrance together. But they said nothing to each other and their footsteps echoed in the now empty halls. When they finally reached the doors and stepped outside, they shared one last glance.

"So, um," Dib awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "see you tomorrow, I guess?"

Zim merely grunted in agreement before darting away. Things were becoming very awkward and weird between them, and it made Zim feel extremely uncomfortable. He finally reached the sanctuary of his house/base, but before he opened the front door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper airplane, observing it in his hand.

He didn't want to admit it in front of Dib...in fact, he didn't even want to admit it to _himself_...but he had..fun today.

After taking one last look at the airplane, he tossed it into the air, watching it fly gracefully...until a bird suddenly knocked into it, causing to crash into the street...and eventually be run over by a passing car.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Zim glared at the dirty, crumbled piece of paper before stepping into his base and slamming the door shut.

"HIIIII!"

"GIR! What I have told you about bringing filthy street animals into our base?! Shoo! Shoo! Get out of Zim's base! No! Get back! AHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

"Awwww, it likes you."

 **So that's it for the first chapter! And no, this won't be a ZADR fic. Sorry (not sorry ;) )**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! So a special thank you to those who have reviewed, faved, and/or are following my story! :)**

 **Here's chapter two!**

Zim continued to poke at the meatloaf with a fork. He looked around and watched in disgust as the other kids devoured their meat like animals. Filthy, slobbering animals. Come to think of it, a human being _is_ considered to be a type of Earth animal, is it not? But he had to appear normal and at least taste the food. Slowly with his freakishly long tongue, he started to lick his meatloaf.

But the second the tip of his tongue touched it, his mouth was already on fire. He screamed in pain and agony as he fell backwards and rolled around on the floor like a mad man. "THE MEAT! THE HORRIBLE MEAT! IT BURNS! IT BURNS ZIM!"

The kids stared at him briefly before resuming their lunch eating. They were already used to Zim's odd behavior and antics, and they assumed that he merely had an allergic reaction to meat.

From the other side of the cafeteria, Dib scowled as he watched the other students shrug it off and go about their lives. It amazed him how truly ignorant and naive his own people were, not to mention ungrateful. He had spend nearly two years trying to protect the planet from Zim's evil plots. And what did he get in return for he efforts?

Wedgies. Spits in the face. Scorn and mockery.

 _"You're crazy!"_

 _"Weirdo!"_

 _"What a loser!"_

 _"Your pants are stupid!"_

But one of these days, he would finally get the respect that he deserved. All he needed to do was to prove that Zim was alien...which was easier said than done.

Speaking of, Zim finally stopped screaming and withering and slowly lifted himself onto his seat. He gripped the edge of the table as he heaved and gagged, his eyes watering and his tongue hanging limp from out of his mouth. He felt a pair of his eyes watching him from behind and he turned around to see Dib glaring at him. Zim glared back and did a thumbs up before turning his back to the human, who was confused by the alien's gesture.

* * *

The skool bell rang and all of the children scurried out of the building, including Zim. It was officially the first day of summer break, which meant no Bitters or horrible Earth children to torment him for twelve weeks. He only had the Dib to worry about now. He eagerly pushed the front doors open...and he gasped in horror as he saw the rain pouring down in all of its fury. The weather man on T.V said nothing about rain today, so he didn't bother to put any paste on. He was trapped.

"Curse you, unpredictable summer rain!" Zim shouted as he dramatically raised his fist in the air. "CURSE YOUUUUUUU!"

Dib stepped outside and saw Zim cursing the rain. "Forgot your paste, Zim?" he snickered.

Zim looked at Dib and pretended not to be intimated by the child's words. "Paste?! HA! Who needs paste?! This does not present a problem to Zim! Nope! Uh-uh! Nnnooo problem at all!"

"Okay," Dib crossed his arms, the cocky smile still plastered on his face. "Prove it."

The alien looked back at the rain and gulped nervously. He extended a shaky hand out and let a drop of rain hit one of his fingers. It felt like acid, and he immediately recoiled. He could sense that the Dib was still looking at him with that stupid smile of his, and it made him even more angry and determined. Taking a deep breath, Zim leapt into the rain and ran as fast as he could to avoid any more drops. However, he quickly tripped and fell to the ground, screaming and writhing as the rain continued to burn him.

Dib merely rolled his eyes and shook his head as he pulled out his umbrella and walked across the schoolyard. He whistled a merry tune as he passed by the squirming alien, who never ceased to scream shrilly.

The whistling started to die down, though, as the pitch of Zim's screaming got higher. For some strange reason, Dib's conscience told him to stop and look back. Reluctantly turning his head, he saw Zim curled in fetal position, his screams having been reduced to whimpers and his green skin starting to blister. It was truly a pitiful sight...

 _No!_ Dib mentally screamed. _Don't feel sorry for him! This is ZIM we're talking about! He wants to destroy the human race! MY race!_

But just as he began to harden his heart, a couple of boys who were exiting the skool noticed Zim lying on the ground and sobbing. They laughed cruelly at his suffering and one of them even kicked a puddle of water that was nearby, splashing even more water onto the alien. Zim screamed and weakly tried to roll away, causing the boys to laugh even harder before they walked away.

 _Wow...my race really sucks._

Before he even realized what he was doing, Dib ran over to Zim and covered him with the umbrella, sheltering the green boy from the rain at the expense of getting himself wet. When Zim noticed that the droplets were no longer hitting him, he slowly opened his bloodshot eyes to see Dib kneeling next to him, the umbrella over his head. The human boy was starting to get soaked from all the rain, the scythe of his black hair dripping and hanging down in front of his face.

Zim couldn't believe his eyes. "Dib...?" he rasped.

"Your skin looks pretty bad," Dib quickly pointed out as he brushed the wet hair away from his face.

"Hmm?" Zim removed a glove which revealed a heavily blistered and even festering hand. He gasped in horror and quickly put the glove back on. He looked around nervously at the rain that continued to pour down and started to whimper, hugging his knees close to him.

There it was again. Pity.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this._

Sighing exasperatedly, Dib stood up while still holding the umbrella over Zim. "I have some ointment back home."

At this, Zim looked up the human puzzled. "Eh?"

"We need to treat those blisters as soon as possible," Dib gestured in the direction of his house. "Let's go."

Zim narrowed his eyes at the human suspiciously before curling his lips back into a snarl. "Zim go with YOU? To YOUR base?! Have you brain worms in that big head of yours?! Zim knows what you're _really_ up to! Do not pretend to not know what I speak of!" He stubbornly crossed his arms and looked away, which only made him look like a pouting toddler.

Dib should've known that Zim would resist at first. The alien did have a point, though. Why would he willingly go with his arch-nemesis? From the moment they first met, Dib constantly threatened to put Zim on an autopsy table and rip his insides out. So why would Zim ever trust him?

"Okay, I get that you don't trust me," Dib calmly explained. "And honestly, I have no idea why I'm helping YOU of all people. Just...come with me before I change my mind. I promise that I won't try anything funny, like dissect you and stuff."

Zim said nothing and continued to look at him skeptically.

Dib was quickly losing his patience. "Oh, would you just hurry up and make a decision? Seriously! I'm getting all wet here! Staying at my house for a few lousy minutes can't be any worse than standing out here in the rain!"

Finally, Zim relented and stood up, snatching the umbrella from Dib's hand. "Very well, human. I will follow you to your base where I'd BETTER receive medical treatment. But be warned, if you betray Zim's trust in _any_ way, you will-!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dib interrupted, getting very annoyed and very wet. "I will feel the wrath of Zim and all that junk. Can we just go now?" He covered his head with his jacket and walked down the sidewalk.

Zim stood where he was for a moment, having second thoughts about following the human to his house. Into his enemy's territory. There he would be defenseless, at Dib's mercy. The boy could use the perfect opportunity to either destroy him or get proof that he was, indeed, an alien. Besides, Zim had ointment of his own back in his base. He didn't need to go to Dib for-

Oh, wait. That's right. GIR had eaten all of his tubes of antibiotic ointment.

"I'm going to disassemble that robot when I get back," Zim angrily mumbled as he ran after the human.

* * *

"Let's see...where's...ah! Here we go!" Dib took out a small container of ointment from the kitchen cabinet and climbed off the counter. He could feel Zim watching his every move, just waiting for him to do something suspicious. He walked to the table where Zim sat and handed him the cream. "Here. Rub this all over your blisters. It'll help soothe the-"

Zim abruptly grabbed the box from Dib and twisted the lid. "Zim knows how to apply healing cream to his skin," he snapped as he removed the lid and dipped his fingers into the cream. He then proceeded to rub it over his damaged cheeks, hissing in pain and gritting his teeth.

Dib was annoyed by Zim's rude behavior, but quickly shrugged it off. Zim was still Zim, after all. In fact, he'd be concerned if Zim _wasn't_ acting his normal impudent self. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a can of Poop soda. "You want something to drink?" he offered. The dirty look that he got in response was enough to let him know that Zim was good. He took a seat at the table and watched as Zim removed his gloves to rub the ointment over his hands. "So, um, can I ask you something?"

Zim never looked up but gave him a "hmmph," which he assumed to be a "sure."

"During lunch today," Dib took a sip of his drink, "you gave me a thumbs up. What was that all about?"

This time Zim lifted his eyes to Dib. "Is that not an obscene human gesture?"

"Um, no, it isn't."

"Then what is the gesture for, 'probe you'?"

"'Probe you'? What does that even...oh. You mean...?"

Zim gave him a nod.

"Um," Dib scratched his chin, "I guess...the middle finger?"

"Middle finger, huh?" Zim asked intrigued. "Show Zim."

This request caught Dib completely off guard. " _Show_ you?"

"Yes," Zim insisted. "Show me this middle finger gesture."

"I'm not gonna do the middle finger!"

"Why not?" Zim demanded.

"'Cause it's inappropriate! Not to mention kinda childish! Besides, why would you want to learn that gesture when you don't even _have_ a middle finger?"

Counting the three digits on each hand, Zim realized that the big-headed child was right and growled in annoyance. Suddenly, Dib let out a loud sneeze, causing to alien to yelp and hide behind his chair in an attempt to shield himself from... _eeugh!_...the dreaded germs.

Sniffling and wiping his now ruby nose with the sleeve of his trench coat, Dib groaned as he saw the disgusting snot. "Great, now I have a cold."

"How could you become sick so quickly?" Zim asked, still hiding behind the chair.

"Gee, I dunno," Dib sarcastically remarked. "Maybe it's because I became soaking wet from standing in the rain for so long? It's _your_ fault that I'm sick, you know."

"MY fault?" Zim asked incredulously. "How is it ZIM'S fault? YOU were the one who sacrificed his umbrella to me!"

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have had to give you my umbrella if you had just remembered to put paste on."

"Well, I didn't ask you for your help, did I?"

"..." Dib couldn't think of a counter-argument. Zim was right; he never asked for Dib's help. So why _did_ he decide to save the alien? "Well, don't expect me to help you again," he muttered and took another sip of his soda.

* * *

"This changes nothing, Dib," Zim said as he stepped outside. The rain had finally stopped, though the sky was still grey and cloudy. "Just because you saved my life doesn't mean that I will halt my plans to take over the world."

"Never really expected you to," Dib mumbled, standing at the front door.

"And after I have finally conquered the planet," Zim sneered, "I will cut off your giant head and stuff it with salty pretzels to serve to my Tallest." He laughed haughtily as he strode down the sidewalk.

Dib, having been insulted by that remark, flipped him off before slamming the door shut.

 **The "Probe you" quote was inspired by ZimPLUSDib on Deviantart. LOL**


	3. Chapter 3

"MOOOOOOO! GRRRROWWWLLL! CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP! YABBA DABBA DOOOOOO!"

"GIR! Stop that infernal racket at once!"

The crazy robot whined and hugged his rubber piggy closer to him. Zim growled in annoyance and focused his attention back on the controls of his ship. "And for the last time...piggies go 'Oink'!"

"No they don't!" GIR smiled stupidly with his tongue sticking out.

"YES, THEY DO!" Zim argued. "You _dare_ call Zim a _liar_?!"

"...Your pants are on fire! Hee hee!"

Zim's eye twitched and his antennae sank back. "I do not like you," he hissed. "ANYWAY! Now that the Dib has fallen ill, we must take this opportunity to carry out Operation: **Red Sauce Of DOOM**! If we do this right, we will be one step closer to conquering Earth. So don't mess this up!"

The ship approached the city's water tower and hovered over it. Zim pressed a button and a laser was emitted by his cruiser, drilling a large hole in the tank. He then pulled out a long metallic hose and carefully lowered it into the hole.

"If we succeed in replacing the water supply with this hot sauce," Zim snickered evilly, "the humans will be deprived of their most precious natural resource AND they will experience UNSPEAKABLE pain as they cluelessly guzzle down the tongue-sizzling condiment. They will be left weakened and vulnerable! And at long last, Invader Zim shall rule-GIR, PAY ATTENTION!"

GIR stopped playing with the piggy and stood at attention, his cyan eyes now turned red. "Yes, Sir!"

"This is very important!" Zim sternly told him while wagging his finger. "Do _not_ touch any buttons while the sauce is being inserted into the water tower."

"Yes, Master!" GIR saluted him. "I obey!"

Without further ado, Zim activated the machine, and the hose rattled and hummed as an unseen substance was flowing into the tank. For a moment, everything seemed to be going according to plan...

...then Zim smelled something awfully familiar in the air. Blueberry? Strawberry? _Bananas?_ He was supposed to be smelling chillies! Suspiciously, he turned to GIR, who looked at him with a goofy, innocent smile.

"GIR," Zim calmly but menancingly spoke, "what _exactly_ did you fill our tanks with?"

GIR thought for a moment and placed a tiny hand under his chin. "Hmmm...oh, yeah! I stuffed them with muffins!"

Zim's red eyes bulged. "MUFFINS?! YOU FILLED OUR TANKS WITH _MUFFINS_?!"

GIR stupidly nodded. "Yeah-huh! I gets blueberry, strawberry, chocolate chip, banana nut..."

While GIR continued to list the flavors, Zim frantically tried to shut down the machine, but it was too late. A terrible creaking sound was heard as the water tower slowly began to lean. Finally, it snapped in half, and the tank exploded the moment it hit the ground, thousands of muffins flying everywhere with a speed comparable to that of bullets. They even left dents in Zim's ship, and the alien became fearful for his life.

"RETREAT! ESCAPE THE MUFFINS!"

Zim quickly put up the windshield before the muffins could hit him, but not before GIR dropped his beloved piggy in all the commotion. Ignoring his robot's protests, Zim turned the ship around and zoomed away.

"PIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGYYYYYYYYYYYY!" GIR's heart-wrenching wail filled the night sky.

* * *

"AAAHH-CHOOO!" Dib sniffled before grabbing another tissue and wiping his nose with it. Gaz, who sat next to him on the couch, sneered at her brother and scooted further away from him.

"You _better_ not get me sick, Dib," Gaz threatened before turning her attention back to her handheld game.

"Sorry, Gaz," Dib said in a congested voice. "I got soaked from standing in the rain yesterday."

"You had an umbrella, didn't you?" Gaz scoffed without her eyes off the game.

Dib wanted to tell her that he didn't have an umbrella was because he gave it to Zim. But then he'd have to explain why he would help his archenemy after nearly two years of being at each other's throats, and of course, he wouldn't have an answer. He still couldn't understand why he saved Zim's life, especially if it meant endangering the Earth.

"...I forgot it," he finally said, looking down at the carpet.

"Whatever," she mumbled.

 _This just in: one of the water towers had collapsed last night at around 11:30 pm._

The anchorman's announcement caught Dib's attention and he looked back up at the screen.

 _Police are still investigating the damage. According to what they have told us, the tank was filled with muffins to the point that the weight of them all was too much for the tower to handle._

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Muffins? Who would do...? Oh. Of course." There was only one person in the world dumb enough to stuff the water tower with muffins. He wasn't even a _person_ , in fact.

He heard Gaz chuckle in disbelief. "Muffins? Wow, Zim must be getting pretty desperate, 'cause this is, by far, the _stupidest_ scheme he has ever come up with."

Dib rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Yeah, it was _too_ stupid, in fact, even for someone like Zim. That robot-dog of his must have had a hand in this, as well. His big (yes, big) head throbbed with a sinus headache and he let out a groan. It was good thing that this plot of Zim's had failed, because he just wasn't feeling up to saving the world at the moment.

* * *

"All right, everybody, clear out!" Officer Wilks ordered the civilians, who stood behind the traffic barricades and watched as the police continued their investigation. "There's nothing to see here! The police have it all under control-DANGIT, REYNOLDS! I TOLD YOU TO STOP EATING THE EVIDENCE!"

A chubby police officer immediately stopped munching on one of the muffins and dropped it. "Sorry," he said with his mouth full.

Just then a black Jaguar smashed through the barricades and came to a screeching halt. A man wearing a black trench coat and dark sunglasses stepped out of the vehicle, his blonde spiky comb hair slightly flowing in the gentle breeze. He slammed the car door shut and walked over to Officer Wilks, who was rather pleased to see him.

"Well, good morning!" Wilks cheerfully greeted him and promptly shook his hand. "You must be from the Department of Paranormal Affairs! Thanks for answering our call!"

The man maintained a stoic expression and grunted. "Agent Spider. Nice to meet you, too. So what do we got?"

"Well, we're not quite sure," Wilks scratched the side of his face. "At first, we thought it was simply a prank gone horribly wrong. You'd be surprised at what bored teenagers are capable of doing. But then we realized, how could a bunch of kids manage to fill the tank with nearly five thousand muffins? And where exactly did the muffins come from? We've checked nearly every grocery store in the city, and so far, not a single muffin has been reported missing in their inventories."

"Mmm-hmm," Spider scribbled on his notepad as Wilks continued to describe the situation. "I see. So you're assuming that something paranormal took place here?"

"Well, I don't want to jump to any conclusions here," Wilks chuckled. "But as we were investigating the area this morning, I found something rather...strange. Come with me and I'll show you."

Wilks and Spider walked to a patrol car, and the officer took something out the back seat. Sealed within an evidence bag was a simple rubber piggy. Spider lowered his sunglasses and raised an eyebrow before taking the bag and observing the piggy inside.

"I didn't want to say this in front of the guys," Wilks whispered, "but I really believe that this was the work of... _aliens_."

Spider did his best to remain professional and stifled a laugh. "Aliens? Is that why you called me?"

"Not just your average alien," Wilks insisted. " _Piggy_ aliens! What other explanation could there be?"

"...Right," Spider cleared his throat. "Well, tell you what, I'm going to take this, uh...toy pig back to the lab with me and run some tests on it. I'll report the results to you as soon as possible."

"Right!" Wilks shook his hand again. "It was nice meeting you, Agent-DANGIT, REYNOLDS! PUT THAT FLIPPING MUFFIN DOWN!" He stormed over to the chubby officer, who was about to take a bite out of another muffin.

Spider shook his head and carelessly tossed the bag up and down as he walked back to his Jaguar. "Aliens, yeah, right," he muttered under his breath. He got in and started the car, thankful to get away from those morons. "The only alien in this city is probably that guy at the taco stand. But I'll humor them. I'm getting paid anyway." He chuckled as he removed the piggy out of the bag and gave it a squeeze. It made a tiny squeak...right before it exploded.

The impact sent Spider crashing through the windshield and flames engulfed the vehicle. The alarmed officers rushed to help the government agent.

"Ohmigosh!" Wilks helped Spider to sit up. "Agent Spider, are you okay?!"

The agent was was covered in soot from head to toe, and his sunglasses were broken. "Oh, I'm far from okay," he coughed and tossed his useless sunglasses aside. "But thanks for asking."

"Reynolds, get a bottle of spring water for him!" Wilks instructed his partner before helping Spider onto his feet. "What the heck happened in there, Spider?!"

"I don't know," Spider gravely said as he watched his car burn. "But one thing's for sure, this was _not_ the work of teenagers."

Wilks gasped dramatically. "You mean, I was right? About...you know."

"I mean, either we are dealing with a group of muffin-loving terrorists..." Spider pulled out a spare pair of sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. "...or we have a visitor from another world."

Officer Reynolds returned with a bottle of water and Wilks took it from him, but then he noticed the label and angrily threw the bottle at the chubby officer. "DANGIT, REYNOLDS! I SAID SPRING WATER, NOT SUMMER WATER!"

 **Zim will need to be on his guard from now on...**

 **And yes, I know that the hot sauce plan was ridiculous, but it was the best I could come up with... :/**


	4. Chapter 4

**To everyone who has faved, reviewed, and/or are following "Motivation", thank you so much. I didn't expect so many people to like this story. You all are awesome. I love you. :)**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 _Agent Mothman, we need to talk._

"Um, yeah, Agent Darknootie?" Dib nervously fiddled with his fingers as the silhouette of the Swollen Eyeball member suddenly appeared on the laptop screen.

 _It's been three years since you have joined the Swollen Eyeball Network and so far you have yet to make a contribution to our organization._

"I've been making contributions!" Dib insisted. "What about that snapshot of the chupacabra?"

 _That "chupacabra" was later proven to be a shaven monkey. Remember?_

"Oh, yeah," Dib mumbled to himself.

 _And don't even start with that nonsense about the alien who goes to your skool._

"But Zim IS an alien! I can prove it!"

 _Mmm-hmm, so you've been telling us for the last **two years**. But you haven't provided us any evidence that supports that theory._

"It's not a theory! It's fact! I see Zim without his disguise all the time!"

 _Really? Well, then, you shouldn't have any problems getting a single photo of this alien._

"Um, well," Dib chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head, "that's easier said than done. But I _will_ get that photo! I swear it!"

 _Well, let's hope for your sake that you do._

Dib didn't like that sound of that. "What...what do you mean?"

 _Agent Mothman, unless you can get us solid evidence that proves that Zim is, in fact, an alien, we will have no choice but to discontinue your membership._

The boy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You'll...you...you can't do that! This is what I LIVE for! It's my sole purpose in life! If you kick me out, I...I...I don't know what I'll do! Agent Darkbootie, please!"

 _I'm sorry, son, but it's out of my hands. You have exactly one week. Darkbootie out._

The connection was cut. Dib plopped himself on the bed and stared up at the ceiling numbly. Discontinue his membership? He was running out of options and out of time...

* * *

GIR sat on the couch while hugging a picture of the lost rubber piggy close to his chest, tears pouring out of his cyran eyes.

"I miss you, Piggy," he whimpered.

Zim stomped into the living room, still feeling frustrated over the failed red sauce mission. His head pounding, he rubbed his temples as he sat down on the cushion next to GIR.

"I'm still mad at you," he grumbled while glancing over at GIR, who continued to mourn his toy pig. He decided that he nothing better to do than to rot his brain with Earth's television programs and turned his T.V on.

A human wearing a large purple robe and a golden crown on his head sat on his throne while pointing an accusing finger at an unseen person. _"You have failed your king,"_ he scowled. _"You have failed your kingdom. You do not deserve to live, you scum."_

Zim groaned in annoyance. He hated this channel already, so he switched to another. This time a rather cheesy-looking spaceship (the string attached to it could still be seen) swung back and forth in outer space. The scene cut to a duo of little grey men dramatically wiggling their long fingers. _"Inhabitants of planet Earth,"_ they said in a spooky voice, _"We do NOT come in peace. We have come to conquer your planet and add it to our collection of planets. Now prepare to-"_

Zim quickly changed the channel, feeling even more annoyed. A preacher was screaming into his microphone as he slowly walked across the pulpit. _"...in which the Heavens shall pass away with a GREAT noise! And the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up! Take a good look around, my brothers and sisters! Someday, all of this will BURN and cease to be! And the wicked and unjust shall feel the wrath of the Almighty-"_

"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF IRK!" Zim screamed at the top of his air-sacs (the Irken equivalent to human lungs) and threw the remote at the T.V, breaking the screen. "You do not need to rub it in! Zim is fully aware that he is a failure! I should've had this planet conquered a long time ago! I used to be a mighty invader! But THIS is what I have been reduced to: a couch spud getting fat on snacks and waffles! _Your_ waffles, GIR," he glared at the robot, who stopped crying over the pig a long time ago. "It's _your_ fault I'm getting fat!"

"Yeah," GIR agreed. "You're as big as a house."

Zim's antennas perked up, a concerned look on his face. "Really?" He hurried over to the mirror that was on the living room wall and posed in front of it. He noticed that he was growing a fat belly, though it wasn't really a big bulge. In fact, no one had even noticed it until GIR pointed it out. This absolutely devastated Zim and he dropped to his knees.

"Oh, it's true!" he wailed. "I have become like Skoodge: fat _and_ short! I am a disgrace to the Irken Empire! What will the Tallest think of me once they have seen my hideous appearance? I can't bear to live with the shame!" He continued to sob miserably and pounded the floor with his fists. It was truly a pitiful sight.

"Then lose some weight," GIR shrugged his blue shoulder orbs.

The alien froze and opened one red eye. "Oh. Very well! I shall restore my honor by ridding myself of this...disgusting lump of fat. Put on your disguise, GIR. We are going for a stroll in the park."

"YAAAAY!" GIR gleefully leapt off the couch and went to retrieve his dog costume.

* * *

"Hmmm, let's see..." Agent Spider looked through his notes as he walked down the sidewalk. "The suspects apparently have an obession with pigs. And muffins. Or perhaps it's not just muffins. Maybe they'll use any type of food product in their-"

Someone suddenly bumped into him and he dropped his notepad. A rather ugly-looking green boy and his dog walked past him without even sparing him a glance.

"Um, young man?" Spider called out to him. The kid stopped in his tracks and glanced back at him. "You're supposed to say, 'Excuse me.'"

The green boy merely narrowed his eyes at him before continuing on his way. The green dog smiled and waved at him before running to catch up with its master.

Spider grumbled as he bent down to pick up his notepad. "Geez, what a freak," he muttered. "This place is just full of weirdos."

"HEYYYY!"

The government agent turned his head in the direction of the slightly cracked voice. A huge obese man in a grotesque pig costume stood at the front entrance of Bloaty's Pizza Hog. "LOOK AT BLOATYYYYY!" he waved his tiny arms as much as he could. "TRY OUR PIZZA! IT'S THE BEST PIZZA THERE IS!"

Spider raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A pig...food advertising..." His eyes widened in realization. "Of course! It all makes sense now!" He slowly approached the pig man and pulled out his badge. "Excuse me, Mr. Bloaty? Agent Spider. I work for the United State Government. I need you to come with me."

Bloaty looked unsure. "Uh...I'm gonna have to ask my manager first."

"No, no, no," Spider chuckled. "This is extremely important. You need to come with me now."

Bloaty was about to protest. "But I..."

Suddenly the barrel of a gun was pressed against his snout.

"I don't think you heard me," Spider coldly said. "I said, **now**."

* * *

An elderly couple sat on a bench and fed bread crumbs to the pigeons who cooed happily. They snuggled close to each other and held hands. Nothing could ruin this beautiful moment.

"BIRDIEEEEEEEEEES!"

GIR suddenly ran into the flock of pigeons and scared them away. The couple was covered in feathers...as well as pigeon poop. They glared down at the green dog, who started giggling and pointed at them.

"You're covered in bird doodie!" he laughed.

"GIR!" Zim called out to the robot and angrily tapped his foot on the stoned path. "Leave the old meat sacks alone!" The robot dog obeyed his master and ran to him, and they continued down their path.

It was too hot for Zim, and the park was quite crowded today. All around them, humans were either having picnics or flying their kites. A jogger almost ran into Zim, and a guy on a bicycle accidentally ran over his foot, which, needless to say, _really_ hurt.

"Sorry, dude!" the cyclist called out as he rode away. Zim merely grumbled and rubbed his thankfully not broken foot.

"Clearly, this was a mistake," he muttered. "GIR, we are taking our strolling somewhere else!" He turned to find his robot dog gone. "GIR?"

GIR was now sitting at a picnic table, drool pouring out of his mouth like a waterfall as he watched a man take a bite out of his peanut butter sandwich. The human noticed GIR staring at him and tried to shoo him away. "Hey, get outta here! Shoo!"

Suddenly, GIR snatched a basket full of sandwiches off the table and ran off giggling like a madman.

"HEY!" the man immediately ran after him. "Give that back, you thief!"

Meanwhile, Zim searched for his robot servant, not wanting to spend another minute in the park. "GIR! Where are you?! Enough fooling around! We are leaving right-"

Something fluttered in front of Zim's face, startling him. He took a step back and saw a blue Morpho butterfly flapping its majestic wings which shined under the sunlight. Curiously, Zim held out a gloved finger and allowed the creature to perch itself onto him. It slowly moved its wings up and down as it rested on his finger, and he was absolutely mesmerized by the gorgeous rays of blue.

He just had to have those wings.

He delicately pinched one wing and the butterfly immediately started to flap the other one, desperately trying to get away. Zim cruelly chuckled at the smaller creature's attempts to free itself from his grasp. Oh, how he loved to feel in control. Then he pinched the other wing and started to pull on both of them, tying to be careful not to cause any damage. In less than a minute, with a terrible crunching sound, he managed to pull the wings off. The body dropped to the ground, wiggling in agony.

Zim studied the blue wings that he carefully held in between his thumbs and fingers. They were so fragile yet beautiful. These would be wonderful souvenirs for him to take back to Irk. Perhaps he could even make money by having other Irkens pay to look at the wings that were as blue as the ectoplasm of the Meekrob.

He turned his attention back to the insect's body, which was slowing down in its writhing. He felt inclined to stomp on the dying creature and put an end to its misery. It was the humane thing to do, after all. But just as he was about to bring his foot down, the butterfly's little black eyes somehow managed to look directly into his. Zim felt a shiver down his spine. It was almost as if the creature were staring into his very own soul.

Finally, it stopped moving, its legs curled up to its body.

Zim couldn't even breathe for a moment, as his chest suddenly clenched with an unfamiliar feeling. He had never felt this way before.

He looked back down at the wings that he tore off the now dead butterfly. They had somehow lost their majestic blue color and shine and were now dull and grey. Suddenly, they weren't so beautiful anymore.

A lump formed in his throat and he swallowed around it before dropping the wings, which landed next to the body. He could only stare at the remains of the butterfly as GIR wobbled over to him, his costume covered in peanut butter from head to toe and his robot tummy full.

"I'm gonna be sick!" GIR declared before throwing up all over Zim's shirt. Strangely, though, Zim didn't even seem to care. In fact, he merely wiped the vomit off and continued to stare down at the dead insect.

"Why am I feeling this way?" he whispered, mostly to himself.

 **Sorry, if I hadn't been updating fast enough. I write fictions in the TMNT fandom as well, which always comes first.**


	5. Chapter 5

**The butterfly scene in the last chapter was hard for me to write, as I absolutely adore butterflies... :(**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 **Warning: Drug reference**

Poor Bloaty had been chained to a metal chair that was too tiny for him in a dark room with a hanging lamp as the only source of light. The obese man had been stripped of his pig costume and his bare skin glistened with sweat. He could hear the sound of someone's shoes clank on the tile floor, and he instantly knew that it was his kidnapper.

"Comfy, Bloaty?" Agent Spider chuckled darkly as he stepped into the bigger man's view. His sunglasses reflected the lamp's light, giving him a more menacing appearance.

"Please let me go," Bloaty begged the government agent.

Spider firmly shook his head. "First, I need to ask you a few questions."

"Look, if this is about that bag of dope, it's not mine. It-It's my brother's. I was just holding onto it until he'd get back from-"

Spider quickly shut him up with a slap to the face. "Shut your mouth," he hissed. "You think I'm stupid or something? Don't play games with me. I already know about your secret plan."

Bloaty was genuinely confused. "Wha-What plan? What are you taking about?"

Spider gripped Bloaty's chubby cheeks and painfully dug his nails into him, earning a whimper from the pig man. " _You_ were the one responsible for the water tower incident. _You_ filled the tank with those muffins to the point that the tower couldn't support the weight and collapsed. You were trying to scare customers out of the bakeries so that they'd instead go eat at your restaurant. Nobody wants to eat dangerous food, right? It's all about the competition."

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Bloaty insisted. "I had nothing to do with that!"

"Oh, yeah?" Spider sneered. "Then explain the rubber pig that we found at the crime scene."

"What rubber pig? I don't have a rubber pig! Look, I'm gonna be honest with you, okay? I hate this job. But Bloaty's Pizza Hog is the only place in this city that'll hire a big blob like me. That's the only reason I stay. But I'm not dedicated enough to do something as crazy as filling a water tower with muffins. I swear!"

Spider lowered his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes at Bloaty. "Hmmm...perhaps you're telling the truth. There's only one way to find out." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pig toy that looked exactly like the one he found at the crime scene. He held it out for Bloaty to see. "Recognize this?"

Bloaty raised an eyebrow. "Uh..."

"Oh, come on, you know what this is," Spider waved it in front of Bloaty's face. "And you're fully aware of what happens when I give it a squeeze. Just one squeeze, Bloaty."

Bloaty started to get nervous. "Wha-What happens when you squeeze it?"

"You know what happens. Last chance, Bloaty. Tell me how you managed to destroy the water tower."

"But I _didn't_! I swear! Please don't hurt me! Please!"

Spider paused before squeezing the rubber piggy. It let out a tiny squeak, but nothing happened. Bloaty still waited for something to happen, though, and held his breath, sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Uh...is something _supposed_ to happen?" he asked Spider.

The government agent was finally convinced that Bloaty had played no part in the crime. "Alright. I believe you. Thank you for your cooperation." He then turned and left the dark room, leaving Bloaty all alone.

"Hey-Hey, wait!" Bloaty called after him. "Could you at least unchain me from this chair? Please? It's riding up my butt!"

* * *

"Computer!"

An exasperated sigh echoed in Zim's lab. **_Yeah?_**

"Search the N-ter-net and give me all the information you can find on butt-er-flies!"

 ** _Fine. Searching..._**

Zim leaned back in chair and waited for the computer to pull something up, while GIR sat on the floor and sucked rather loudly out of a slushy cup, irritating the alien.

 ** _Found something._**

Numerous files on butterflies popped up on the huge screen and he clicked on the one entitled, "Lepidoptera". He was amazed by the concept of a creature as beautiful and graceful as the butterfly starting out as a simple, ugly caterpillar. And in such short amount of time, as well. And the various colors, patterns, and even shapes of the wings fascinated him.

He couldn't quite understand why, but he just had to see more of these butterflies. But he didn't want to go back to that dreadful park again. There was a file on butterfly houses and he clicked on it. Apparently, these exhibits breed and house many native butterflies, and there were even gardens in which the visiting humans could interact with the insects.

"Computer! Give me the directions to the nearest butt-er-fly house!"

GIR's antenna perked up and stopped drinking hid slushy. "WE GONNA GO SEE THE BUTTERFLIES?!"

Zim whipped the chair around to face the robot. "No, GIR. You are staying here."

GIR started to tear up. "But whhhyyyyyyy?!"

"Because you'll eat the butt-er-flies as soon as you see them!" Zim said. "You'd only get us kicked out! You are to stay here until I get back!"

Tears dripped out of the robot's eyes and he looked up Zim pitifully, his antenna even sinking back.

Zim rolled his red eyes. "Okay, I'll bring you back a souvenir."

Immediately, GIR became happy again. "YAAAAYYY!"

* * *

Professor Membrane got the day off from work, and it was Dib's turn to choose where to go on their family fun day. Dib chose the butterfly house, much to his sister's dismay. Dib had always loved butterflies, and he wanted to ease his mind after receiving that call from Agent Darkbootie yesterday.

But even as he looked over the butterflies that were in the wall-mounted display case, he could not get Darkbootie's words out of his head.

 _"Agent Mothman, unless you can get us solid evidence that proves that Zim is, in fact, an alien, we will have no choice but to discontinue your membership."_

Dib couldn't bear the thought of being kicked out of the Swollen Eyeball Network. What would he do after that? Work with his dad in the field of real science? "Real". That term mocked him and everything he believed in. Paranormal investigation was a legitimate field of study and research, as he had to constantly remind his dad. But Membrane genuinely believed that his own son was insane, and that hurt Dib, even if he didn't show it.

"Hey, Doofus!"

Gaz's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he whipped his head around. His sister glared at him with her arms crossed. "The movie is about to start," she said. "If you don't want to miss it then you'd better hurry up."

...

He and his family walked into a small dark room with a large screen on the wall. They sat on a long bench in the fourth row just as the screen turned on, revealing a Monarch butterfly which was feasting on the nectar from a flower.

 _The butterfly,_ a woman's voice spoke through the speakers surrounding the room. _One of the many beauties that Mother Nature brings us. These majestic creatures belong to the Lepidoptera family, cousins to the moths. Butterflies evolved from the moths millions of years ago. The oldest American butterfly is the Late Eocene..._

Unbeknownst to Dib, Zim sat on the bench closest to the screen, scribbling down the narrator's words on a notepad. He was hidden by the taller humans who sat in the rows behind him.

...

"Okay, everyone, here are the rules!" the staff member announced to the group who stood in front of the door leading to the garden. "No food or drinks in the exhibit! Do not touch the plants! Do not pick up or handle the butterflies without the permission of a staff member...that's me, by the way! And do not remove the butterflies from the exhibit area, even if they are dead! Okay? Good!" He then pushed the door open and allowed the people to walk in.

Butterflies of all shapes, sizes, and colors fluttered above and around them. Many rested on plants, flowers, and even the lily pads that floated on top of the beautiful pond.

Dib smiled and closed his eyes as the soothing sound of the fountain filled his ears. The butterfly dome was one of his favorite places to visit. A Painted Lady fluttered around him before resting on his shoulder, and then a Monarch perched itself upon the scythe of his hair, making him chuckle.

He may have been abused and shunned by his fellow humans, but Mother Nature was always so kind to him. Well, most of the time, anyway.

He went around a corner and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a familiar green kid studying the plants in the garden.

 _Zim?!_

He quickly hid behind a tree and watched as the alien lifted his head at the butterflies that hovered above him.

 _What the heck is HE doing here?! Great, even in the butterfly dome, I'm not safe from my archenemy. Heyyyy, hold on a sec..._

Dib realized that Zim's robot dog wasn't around, and they were in a public place surrounded by people. Slowly, Dib reached into his trench coat and felt the cold metallic touch of his alien sleep cuffs.

 _Now's your chance, Dib! There couldn't be a better opportunity!_

Zim was too fixated on the butterflies to even notice Dib walking from behind the tree and tiptoeing toward him, the cuffs drawn out. Dib's heart pounded as he got closer, then it skipped a beat when Zim suddenly raised his hand, palm up. But he didn't move another muscle. He only stood there very still, like a statue reaching for the sky.

It tempted Dib even more. It was almost as if Zim was _begging_ to be cuffed. He unlocked the cuffs and slowly moved toward him like a lion stalking its prey. Sweat ran down his forehead and his hands were shaking.

 _So close...!_

He could just imagine it now: him dragging the unconscious alien out of the butterfly house and being met with the news media, cameras flashing and reporters screaming questions at him. The headlines reading, "Boy Captures Actual Alien!" His dad congratulating him as he receives a medal from President Man. Chapters in history books that are all about him and his amazing discovery. A lifelong dream come true...

Something blue and shiny fluttered down to where Zim stood. Dib gasped softly as he realized that it was a blue Morpho, his favorite species. It rested in Zim's palm and Dib expected the alien to either crush the insect or tear it apart.

But Zim only brought his hand closer to his face and watched as the butterfly slowly flapped its metallic blue wings. If Dib didn't know any better, he could've sworn that Zim was _smiling_. He had never seen the alien treat a living thing with such gentleness. It was a whole side of Zim that was new to him.

The voice in his head kept screaming, _What are you doing?! Get him now while he's distracted! This might be your only chance! Do you want to be kicked out of the Swollen Eyeball Network?! Do it NOW!_

Zim raised his hand again and allowed the butterfly to flutter away.

 _NOW! DO IT NOW!_

 _...I...I can't. I just can't. Not like this._

He shoved the cuffs back into his coat pocket and turned in the opposite direction to find his dad and sister.

* * *

"GIR! I have returned!"

The robot turned away from the T.V and squealed with delight as Zim walked in with a plastic bag in his hand. He ran up to his master and bounced with joy.

"Didyougetanythingforme?!" GIR shouted. "Huh?! Huh?! Didyougetanythingforme?!"

Zim shooed him away with a wave of his hand. "Yes, yes! I bought you a souvenier as promised." He took a plush caterpillar from out of the bag and shoved it in GIR's face. The robot snatched the toy and hugged it close to his chest, humming happily.

"I love it," he cooed.

"You'd better," Zim mumbled as he headed for his lab. "That caterpillar cost $35."

 **What other things will Zim discover about planet Earth? We shall soon see...**


	6. Chapter 6

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"Okay, so Bloaty is no longer a suspect."

Agent Spider let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling of the hotel room, dark circles under his eyes. "Come on, Dylan, think," he mumbled to himself. "There has never been a case that you couldn't solve. And I'm not about to let some piggy-loving terrorist outsmart me."

A small painting of a pig in a barnyard hung on the wall and Spider glared hatefully at it, tightening his grip on the arms of the chair.

"You dare taunt me?" he sneered as he got off the chair and marched over to the picture. He ripped it off the wall and brought it close to his face. "You think I can't solve this case? Hmmm? Is that it? You say I can't do it?" He suddenly started to scream in rage. "WELL, F***K YOU, MR. PIG! YOU SPEAK LIES! LIIIIES!" He lifted the painting over his head before bringing it down on his knee, and it snapped right in half. After a few moments of heavy breathing, Spider finally recomposed himself and tossed the broken picture aside. "Whoo! Needed to get that out of my system. Okay, back to work."

He went back to the computer desk and resumed his research, but not before taking another sip of his coffee. A government agent is trained to work for days without sleep, and thankfully they are given more than enough salary to pay for all the cups of coffee that they buy every two hours. After nearly an hour of going searching throughout the net, he finally came across an interesting story.

Months ago, Gaz Membrane, the daughter of the world's most famous and successful scientist, was diagnosed with the newly discovered disease known as "Pigmouth". Eventually, they found a cure, but Spider wondered if the child felt resentment toward the people who looked at her like she was a freak or even poked fun at her during those weeks of horrible testing and confinement. Based on the pictures that were on the newspaper clippings, this Gaz seemed to be a _very_ disturbed child. She looked like the type that would plot vengeance against those who had done her wrong. Being related to Membrane, she no doubt had easy access to the kind of technology that would be needed to fill the water tower with muffins. The rubber pig could've been her trademark.

"Perhaps it's time I paid a visit to the Membranes," Spider said as he finished his coffee.

* * *

The ship zoomed over the forest with a roar, startling the birds and causing them to fly out of the trees. It eventually reached a clearing and landed, and once it touched the ground, Zim, wearing his human boy disguise, hopped out with a book in his hand. Specifically, a book about butterflies that he had purchased during his visit at the butterfly house. He looked cautiously around him for any sign of humans. The coast seemed to be clear.

"Okay, GIR!"

On cue, the hyperactive robot dog jumped out of the ship and ran to his master. He stood at attention and saluted the alien.

"Did you remember to install the guidance chip?" Zim asked.

GIR nodded, still saluting. "Yes, sir!"

Zim raised an invisible eyebrow. "Are you _sure_?"

GIR nodded again, smiling happily. "Mmm-hmm!"

Zim paused before grabbing GIR's head and looking inside, just to make sure. "Let's see...rubber piggy...bag of potato chips...a dead gerbil (eeugh!)...there's the chip! Okay! We are ready to explore the woods and look for butt-er-flies!" And with that, he and GIR headed into the woods, unaware that a pair of eyes was watching them from behind the bushes...

...

"Let's see..." Zim studied the brown butterfly that rested on his finger while also looking through the pages of his book. The wings had a pattern of eyespots that resembled the eyes of an owl. "'Junonia coenia,'" he read. "'Commonly known as the buckeye butt-er-fly. The eyespots on its wings are a defense against predators, especially birds. Owls are predators of smaller birds, and so whenever the butterfly flashes it wings and the birds see the owl-like eyes, they are frightened away.' Interesting. So even the butt-er-flies blend in with their surroundings in order to survive, much like the Meekrob and the Hooshies." He lifted his hand and watched as the butterfly took off, fluttering into the sky. "GIR, have you found any more butt-er-flies yet?"

"Uh-huh!"

Zim whipped his head around. "Really? Let's see!"

Much to his horror, though, GIR was holding a bee hive, angry bees flying around him. The dog's mouth was messy with honey and he licked the inside of the hive through the small opening.

Zim dropped his book and started to back away. "GIR! I said butt-er-flies! Not bees! Put that away!"

"You want some honnnnneeeeyyyy?" GIR held out the hive and started to walk over to him.

"No!" Zim back away even further, frantically waving his arms in front of him. "NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Here you go!" GIR flung the hive at Zim, who tried to get away but it was too late. The hive bounced off his face and the bees immediately swarmed around him. Zim cried out in pain as they began to sting them, and as many bees as they were, if felt like he was trapped in a needle sack (yes, needle, not hay).

" _AAAHHHHH! THE BEES! THE HORRIBLE BEES!_ "

He continued to scream as he ran deeper into the woods, leaving GIR behind. The bees would not leave him alone and he desperately swiped at them. The buzzing grew louder and angrier and the stinging got worse. He had to get away! He had to get-

He tripped over a tree root and fell face first into a puddle of mud. He lay very still for a moment before slowly lifting his head, spitting out mud. He could no longer hear any buzzing and the bees were nowhere in sight. He grumbled as he wiped the mud off his face then hissed in pain from the sores on his skin.

"Stupid bees," he hissed. "If there's one thing I'll always hate about this planet, it's the bees. Well, one day, they will _all_ perish in the fires of...eh?"

He suddenly realized that he was in the middle of nowhere...without GIR.

"GIR! Come retrieve your master!"

He waited for his robot to come flying through the trees at his master's call. But nothing happened.

"GIR! Where are you?!"

No response. He started to get very scared.

"GIR! I MEAN IT! COME SAVE ME THIS INSTANT!"

Silence.

"...GIR?" Zim's voice cracked and he looked nervously around him. He was lost in a strange, new environment, and he could almost swear that something was watching him...

...then he startled at the sound of bushes rustling.

"WHO'S THERE?!" He demanded, trying to hide his fear. "SHOW YOURSELF! I AM ZIM!"

For a moment, it was silent. Then the bushes rustled again.

"GIR, is that you?" he really hoped that it was his robot servant. He seriously doubted it, though. He didn't want to wait to found out and immediately started climbing up a tree with his mechanical spider legs.

"Okay, I'll just hide in the trees for the time being," he chuckled nervously. "They won't be able to reach Zim up here." Unfortunately, as he climbed, he got too close to a blue jay's nest, and the momma bird was _not_ happy about this green creature invading her home. Screeching angrily at Zim, she began to peck at him with her black beak.

Zim screamed and swiped at the bird. "GET OFF! GET OFF!" In the midst of the struggle, he lost his grip on the tree and he fell, landing flat on his back. Thankfully, his pak wasn't damaged, but he was still in a world of hurt. His eyes were shut tight and a painful groan escaped his lips.

"Pain..." he rasped. "Can't...move."

He suddenly felt something wet and soft poke at his cheek. He assumed that GIR had finally found him.

"GIR...help me up."

Then for some strange reason, his robot started to lick his cheek.

Zim growled in annoyance and tried to push him away. "Stop that, GIR! And help me up this instant!"

Then GIR sniffed his wig, which was even stranger.

Having had enough, Zim finally opened his eyes. "GIR! What is the matter with-?!"

To his surprise, what was staring down at him wasn't GIR, but some kind of red dog-like creature. Zim stared back up at it for a moment before sitting up and frantically scrambling away from it, his back to a tree.

The animal, which was almost as big as he was, had long, thin legs, pointy ears, a long nose, and a bushy tail with a white tip. And it's fur was a red-brownish color. Zim had never seen an Earth creature like this one before. It looked at him with curious eyes before slowly approaching him.

Alarmed, Zim backed into the tree even further. "St-Stay away!" he whimpered as he motioned for it to leave. The creature paused and cocked its head. "Go back to your domain and leave Zim be!"

The creature didn't seem to understand and walked toward him again.

"Not another inch!" Zim pointed a trembling finger at it. "I'm warning you!"

It looked at his finger and, once it got close enough, started to sniff it. Zim froze and could only watch as the creature began to study him, sniffing all over him from his hands to his legs. Zim started to relax once it dawned on him that perhaps the creature meant him no harm and was only curious about him. And he was curious about the strange red dog as well.

Due to its canine-like appearance, Zim assumed that like all dogs, this one liked to be petted. He reached down to stroke its back, but the second he touched it, the creature fliched away and cautiously backed up, its ears flat and eyes wide with fear.

Zim decided to try another method of approach and held out his hand, palm up. If it worked on butterflies, it could work on wild red dogs as well. He remained very still and waited for the creature to come. Slowly but surely, with its ears still back, it approached him and sniffed his hand. He bent one finger and managed to touch the side of its face. When the creature didn't flinch away, he bent another finger, stroking its fur with them. Finally, Zim placed his whole hand on its head, and the creature seemed to trust him enough to allow him to stroke its fur.

For what seemed like hours, Zim knelt there by the tree, petting the strange dog creature. He wanted to learn more about it and its particular species. A spider leg popped out of his pak and handed him a tracking device that was about the size of a pea (GIR was no longer used as a tracking device obviously). He slowly reached behind the creature's head and buried it in the fur on its neck.

The red dog felt something strange on its body and tried to scratch it off with its leg, but then it stopped and perked its ears up. It whipped its head toward the bushes and Zim followed its gaze.

A mouse popped out, staring at the two with its beady little eyes. Zim looked back down at the red dog, which licked its chops and stooped low to the ground. With great speed, it sprinted toward the mouse and chased it into the bushes.

Zim was alone once again. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was already getting dark. Crickets and cicadas began to sing their song, and fireflies came out of hiding, flashing their yellow lights. He began to wonder if he'd ever get back home. Was he doomed to waste away in the forest?

"I'M BAAAAAAACK!"

GIR suddenly jumped out from behind the bushes and stood in front of Zim, saluting him.

His master glared at him and crossed his arms. "GIR! Where were you?!"

The robot dog stared at him stupidly before tilting his head. "I dunno..."

The alien shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Possibly something that could only be read in the M-rated FanFiction stories, which you won't get from me.

"Whatever!" he said out loud. "Use your guidance chip to lead us home! There is much work to be done!"

...

Later that night, back in the lab, Zim searched the N-ter-net for information on an Earth creature that fitted the description of the red dog. His research led him to a web page entitled, "Fox".

"Fox?" Eager to learn more about this animal, Zim clicked on the link.

 **So Zim is curious about foxes now. Wonder where this will lead us. :)**

 **Also, the scene with Spider yelling at the pig was based on a scene from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, another one of Jhonen Vasquez's works...in case you haven't noticed yet.**

 **See you next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Congrats to all those who have graduated from their high schools/colleges or at least finished their exams! Here's a new chapter as a reward for your hard work and achievements!**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes in this chapter which I will fix later.**

 _Ding-Dong_

"Hmmm?" Professor Membrane stopped working on his latest invention, Super Toast II, when he heard the doorbell ring. He certainly wasn't expecting any visitors nor did he have any appointments. Putting his tools away and straightening his lab coat, he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. When he opened the front door, a man in a black trench coat and wearing dark sunglasses greeted him with a smirk.

"Professor Membrane," he offered Membrane his hand. "Agent Spider. I'm a paranormal investigator and-"

"Ohhhh, no you don't!" Membrane lowered his brow and wagged his gloved finger. "I've had it up to here with this paranormal nonsense! Your kind poisoned my poor son's mind with your ludicrous ideas and drove him to insanity! I will not waste one moment of my time with-"

"Let me rephrase that," Spider shoved the badge into Membrane's face, dropping the nice guy persona for a moment. "My name is Agent Spider, and I'm a _federal_ paranormal investigator."

Membrane looked over the badge and instantly regretted his behavior toward the man. "Oh! You work for the government! Well, that's a completely different story!" He grabbed Spider's hand and gave it a friendly shake. "I sincerely apologize for my outburst! Please, do come in! Have a seat on the couch!"

Spider looked around as he entered the house. It was nice, but not as luxurious as his loft back in Washington. One of the many benefits of working for the government. As he sat down on the couch, Membrane called out to him from the kitchen.

"Mr. Spider! Would you like something to drink?"

"Coffee would be nice," he answered before brushing what looked like lint off the cushion. He also noticed the pieces of potato chips that were spread all over the carpet. _Sheesh, doesn't this guy have a robot maid or something? For someone so rich and famous, he certainly lives in pigsty._

Membrane returned with two cups of coffee and handed one to Spider. He stood in front of the T.V to face the government agent, choosing not to sit on the couch next to him out of respect (and possibly fear). "Now what can I do for you, sir?"

Spider took a sip before speaking. "Well, Professor Membrane, I'm sure you've already heard of the water tower incident."

"Why, yes, I have. Have they found any suspects yet?"

"We're working on it. Or should I say, _I'm_ working on it. I'm in charge of the investigation. And as much as I hate to say it, Mr. Membrane...your daughter Gaz is on that list of suspects."

Membrane's goggle eyes widened. "Gaz? You think _she's_ behind this? That's preposterous! She is only a little girl!"

"Yes," Spider smirked and took another sip, "she is a little girl...with easy access to the most advanced technology in the world. I have other reasons for suspecting her, but I haven't the time to explain it all to you. I just need a few moments with your daughter, you know, to ask her some questions."

Membrane rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmmm...very well, then. Gaz!"

" _WHAT?!_ " An angry feminine voice called out from upstairs.

 _That must be Gaz,_ Spider thought to himself.

"Come down here, daughter!" Membrane said rather cheerfully. "Someone is here to see you!"

Spider heard some grumbling as someone stomped down the stairs. A little girl with purple hair and in a black dress walked into the living room. She wore a skull-shaped necklace around her neck, and her very presence in the room made Spider feel uneasy. She stood next to her father, who lovingly patted her head.

"Gaz," Membrane gestured at Spider, "this is Agent Spider. He's a government man, and he just wants to ask you a few questions."

Gaz raised an eyebrow at Spider, who greeted her with a smile and nod. "Like what kind of questions?"

"It won't take long, sweetie," Spider patted the spot next to him on the couch. "Just a few minutes."

"I'll leave you two alone," Membrane left the living room and headed for the kitchen to resume his experimentation.

Gaz merely shrugged and sat down next to Spider. Unlike her father, she wasn't the least bit nervous around this man. In fact, _nothing_ could make Gaz Membrane nervous whatsoever. Spider, on the other hand, couldn't help but get the chills around this child. There was something about her that just wasn't right, but he maintained his composure and proceeded with the questioning.

"Now, Gaz," Spider cleared his throat and pulled a notepad from out of his pocket, "I understand that you were the victim of Pigmouth, correct?"

Gaz opened one of her tightly shut eyes and looked at Spider coldly. "Did you really have to bring _that_ up?" she growled.

 _Good god, those eyes...is this child even_ human _?_ "I'll bet that you're still feeling raw about it," he nervously chuckled. "Tell me, honey, do you blame someone for your suffering? Is there someone you resent enough to want to...you know...hurt them?"

Gaz paused for a moment before scoffing. "Sure. My stupid brother, Dib."

Spider lowered his sunglasses. "Dib, huh? And what did Dib do to cause your predicament?" He began to write the information on his note pad.

"He gave me the curse of the Shadowhog because he was too chicken to test it on himself first."

He stopped writing and looked at her. "Excuse me? 'Shadowhog'?"

"Yeah, but he already got his just reward. So I'm satisfied."

"And, uh, exactly what punishment did he receive?"

"He was forced to clean the Shadowhog's toilets with his head."

"...Um, okay? Is there no one else to blame?"

"No, that's it. Can I go now?"

Spider had heard enough. "Yes, sweetie, we're done." He watched her jump off the couch and head back upstairs. Cursing under his breath, he tore the page out of his notepad and crumbled it into a ball before tossing it into a nearby trash can. He was back to square one.

"I can't believe I've reduced myself to interrogating a little girl," Spider grumbled. "A delusional one, at that."

The front door suddenly slammed open, and in came a boy with a rather large head walked into the house.

"Hey, Dad! I'm home-" He froze when he saw the stranger sitting on his couch. "Um, who are you?"

"Ah, welcome home, son!" Membrane was back in the living room. "Agent Spider, this is my son, Dib. Dib, meet Agent Spider. He's a federal paranormal investigator."

Dib looked back at the man. "You're a paranormal investigator?"

"Yes, I am," Spider grinned.

"Dib is all about the paranormal," Membrane said. "He wishes to pursue a career in paranormal investigation one day."

"Is that right?" Spider chuckled. "Have you see anything paranormal lately, Dip?"

"Uh, actually, it's Dib," he glared at the government man. "And no, I haven't seen any paranormal lately."

"Well, this is highly unusual of you, son," Membrane scratched his chin, confused by Dib's response. "Normally, you'd go on and on about aliens and whatnot."

 _...ALIENS?!_

Spider hid his surprise with a straight face. "Aliens, huh? You've seen an alien around here, _Dib_?"

Spider noticed that Dib was becoming visibly nervous. The kid remained silent for a moment before weakly chuckling.

"Alien?" Dib shook his head. "Nope. Haven't seen one."

"What about that foreign friend of yours?" Membrane asked him. "Zim is his name, right?"

"Know what? I just remembered! I have to go to the library to finish my report on Pearl Harbor that's due Friday! I'll be home by dinner!" Dib opened the front door and darted outside.

Through the window, Spider watched him run down the sidewalk, before he turned to the boy's father. "Isn't school out?"

"Indeed, it is," Membrane looked just as confused as he was. "Dib is acting rather strange."

"And what do you know about this Zim, Professor Membrane?"

"Oh, he's just a normal boy with a peculiar skin condition."

"Skin condition?"

"The poor child has green skin, and unfortunately, Dib thinks it's because he's an alien. My boy is just desperate to find proof that aliens exist. I love him dearly but he's a bit...insane."

Spider, though, stopped listening to him after he identified the color of Zim's skin. _Green skin. That boy and his dog that I bumped into four days ago. I knew something was off about him, but I brushed it off like an idiot! I need to find out more about this Zim. I need to talk to Dib. He's hiding something...I just know it!_

"...Agent Spider?"

Spider immediately snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh! Uh, I think I have all the information that I need. Thank you for your cooperation, Professor." He offered his hand to Membrane, who instantly grabbed and shook it.

"No problem!" He smiled behind his coat collar. "If you ever need anything, just give me a call or come by anytime!"

Spider nodded his head and smirked. "Oh, believe me, I will."

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Zim followed the path that would hopefully lead him to the fox he ran into yesterday. He returned to the woods without his disguise and brought with him a detector that would pick up the signal of the tracking device that he placed on the animal. The signal got stronger as he went deeper into the woods, and to make sure that he wouldn't get lost again, he put a leash around GIR's neck to prevent him from wandering off.

 _Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep..._

"We are getting closer!" Zim grinned and started to pick up the pace, practically dragging GIR behind him. When the beeping reached its peak, he slowed down and moved with great caution as he peeked around a tree.

Nibbling on the remains of a dead mouse was the very same fox that he met yesterday. Zim took a step forward and accidentally stepped on a twig. The snap startled the fox and he whipped his around. When he saw the alien, the hairs on his back stood up and he snarled threateningly, his ears all the way back.

Zim was rather confused by the fox's strange behavior. Surely, the creature could remember the green human boy who-

 _Oh, of course._

He quickly put the lenses on his red eyes and covered his head with the wig. The fox instantly recognized him and relaxed, wagging his tail even. Zim took a coupe of steps forward before kneeling in front of the creature and holding his hand out, palm up. Like last time, the fox started sniffing Zim's hand, and Zim used this opportunity to stroke the creature's head. The fox didn't even flinch this time, and Zim felt pride within his squeedly-spooch. He seemed to had gained the creature's trust, which was the first step to forming a partnership.

Now on to step two.

"GIR!" He turned to his robot dog. "Start the song!"

"Yes, sir!" GIR saluted him before pulling down his mask and raising his antenna. The second GIR opened his mouth, a catchy electronic song played. Zim started doing dance moves, like ones he saw in the music video.

 _ **What does the fox say?**_

 _ **Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!**_

 _ **Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!**_

 _ **Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!**_

 _ **What does the fox say?**_

 _ **Wa-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow!**_

 _ **Wa-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow!**_

 _ **Wa-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow!**_

 _ **What does the fox say?**_

 _ **Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!**_

 _ **Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!**_

 _ **Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!**_

 _ **What does the fox say?**_

He gestured for GIR to stop the music and waited for the fox's response. The song apparently spoke the fox's language, and he spent all night learning the moves and gestures that came with the words. If he could learn the complicated language of the Hooshies, then he could learn unique the language of the foxes.

The fox simply stared at him and tilted his head before turning back to the dead mouse. Apparently it didn't work.

 _Did I do it wrong?_ Zim wondered as he rubbed his chin. Then the fox walked toward him with the mouse in his mouth. To Zim's surprise and confusion, the fox dropped it at his feet. He stared down at the tiny carcass and bent down to pick it up by the tail.

 _Is this an offering? A sign of friendship, perhaps? The fox wishes to be my friend? Success!_

"Very well, fox!" Zim grinned widely. "I accept your gift and friendship! And now to give you a name! Let's see...Foxy! No. Red! No. Nick! Yes! Nick!"

The fox merely opened his mouth and yawned.

"No? Okay. Hmmm...AH-HA! I got it! You shall be named...Spleen!"

The fox stared at him before lifting his leg and bending down to lick his privates.

"...HE LIKES IT!" Zim declared happily before tossing the dead mouse aside...which GIR caught and put in his mouth.

 **I know there's already a Zim character named Spleen (Invader Spleen), but the name seemed to fit (or maybe it doesn't but that's the point :) )**

 **I do not own the song "What Does The Fox Say" by Ylvis.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, dear readers, reviewers, and followers of "Motivation"! :)**

 **First off, before you freak out and go, "Oh, boy, an Author's Note, I've seen this before, she's quitting the story", take a deep breath. I assure you, that is not the case. I'm just posting this note because you may have noticed that I haven't been updating lately. I am experiencing what I call a temporary Invader Zim writer's block. Key word "temporary," which means that it won't be long. How long? I'm guessing...about a month, maybe. Don't worry, I am _determined_ to finish this story for you guys because you're all awesome. **

**It's just that my brain is just flowing with ideas for my TMNT fanfic "Akari", and someone requested for me to do a TMNT oneshot. Plus, the 2012 TMNT is sadly coming to a quick close, and I feel rushed to finish "Akari" or at least get half of the story done before the series does end.**

 **Plus, I need more time to think of how I am going to continue with "Motivation". I have like this general outline of the story in my head, but I need to take my time and not rush things. Plus, I'm a bit bummed that I lost one fav to this story, which is a bad sign.**

 **So please be patient. I am still working on "Motivation" and I will finish it for you.**

 **With love, No Guns Only Roses.**


	9. Chapter 9

**So thanks to the kind words from my dear readers, reviewers and followers, I was encouraged to go ahead and do the next chapter. Thank you all. I love you. :)**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 _Why did I do that? I was so close to exposing Zim!_

Dib sat alone on a bench in the park, his head resting in his hands, pondering over his decision not to tell Agent Spider about Zim being an alien.

 _I mean, it's not like we're friends or anything. No! The very thought of that makes me want to vomit! I'm not trying to protect him! I can't be! So why didn't I tell that guy the truth?_

He thought back to Darkbootie's threat to discontinue his membership to the Swollen Eyeball network. Getting the proof that Zim was an alien was the only thing that would save his ass.

 _Yeah, that's it,_ he reasoned to himself. _I need to turn Zim in myself. Then the Swollen Eyeball will definitely take me back. Yep. That's the only reason I didn't rat him out._

"Uh, who are you talking to?"

Dib turned to see a pedestrian staring at him like he was nuts.

"Wait," Dib felt his face grow hot. "Was I talking to myself out loud again?"

The man nodded before continuing down the stoned path. "You need help, kid," Dib heard him mumble as he walked away.

He did a facepalm and groaned. "I really need to stop doing that."

Unbeknownst to him, Agent Spider was listening in on the child's one-sided conversation from behind the bushes and wrote it down on his notepad.

"Swollen Eyeball," he muttered as he wrote. "So he _is_ hiding something from me. But just who are these Swollen Eyeball guys? Why did they pick the name 'Swollen Eyeball'? I mean, is that metaphorical or something? And why does that kid talk to himself?" He paused. "Why am _I_ talking to myself?"

* * *

Dib returned home by dinner time and saw Gaz sitting on the couch and playing her video game. She barely even looked up at him and muttered, "Hey."

"Hey, Gaz." He plopped down on the couch next to her and flipped to the channel where his favorite show _Mysterious Mysteries_ was on. The anchor was standing in a trailer park and interviewing a redneck in a greasy white tank top.

 _"So you claim to have seen Bigfoot in your bathroom?"_ the anchor asked him.

 _"Ah sure did!"_ the redneck smiled, showing his horrible yellow teeth. _"Ah dunno what he ate but...hoo-whee! He done killed my toilet! Heck, we needed to move to a different trailer 'cause of the smell!"_

 _"I see,"_ the anchor raised an eyebrow. _"Since you have seen Bigfoot up close, you give us a description?"_

 _"Uh, big, fat, ugly, and really hairy. There was hair all over his body. Looked like a big gorilla!"_

 _"Jack!"_ An obese woman in a floral-patterned dress stomped over to the two. _"Quit tellin' these city folks that you saw Bigfoot! Ah told you, that was just my mother you saw in there!"_

The anchor looked at the camera disturbed. _"Oh, dear Lord,"_ he mumbled.

"So why didn't you tell that Spider guy that Zim's an alien?"

Dib turned to his sister, who was still playing in her game. "Huh?"

"Dad said you ran out of the house the moment he brought up Zim," she said.

"Oh, uh," Dib chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "well, yeah, I _could've_ told him everything, but I want all the credit to myself. I mean, think about it. If I just handed Zim over to that Spider guy, then _he_ would be the one to go down in history as the savior of Earth, not me."

Gaz snorted and even smirked. "Yeah right."

Dib raised an eyebrow at her. "'Yeah right'? What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Come on, Dib. It's painfully obvious that you've grown fond of Zim."

 _...WHAT?!_ "WHAT?! No! No FREAKING way!" Dib retorted. "I HATE that alien's guts! Nothing pleases me more than to cause all kinds of...of...horrible pain on him!"

Gaz wasn't convinced. "Oh, yeah? Then explain why you gave up your umbrella for him that one time."

 _Wait, she figured that out?_ "I told you! I _forgot_ my umbrella!"

"Uh-huh. Well, what about that day in the butterfly house? You had the perfect opportunity to put those cuffs on him, but you just turned and walked away."

Dib's brown eyes widened. "You...you saw that?"

" _Pssst_ , yeah, of course I saw that. Admit it, Dib, you don't even _want_ to dissect Zim anymore."

Dib opened his mouth to argue otherwise, but nothing came out. Suddenly, he wasn't quite sure what he really wanted. He didn't want to be called "crazy" and be the laughingstock of the school, heck, of the _entire city_ anymore. But at the same time, for some reason, he didn't want to put Zim on an autopsy table. He couldn't understand why, but the thought of Zim having his guts ripped out, which before was like a sweet dream to him, now made him feel...uneasy.

"...Despite what you may be thinking," Dib mumbled angrily, "we are _not_ friends, and we never will be."

Gaz merely shrugged. "Whatever. But is it really so bad to be friends with Zim...considering that you don't _have_ any friends?"

Dib visibly flinched. Those words hurt him, yet they were absolutely true. He never had any friends. No one would even "friend" him on Facebook. That was the full extent of his loneliness.

Just then, a floating screen swooped into the living room. A recording of their father spoke to them in a merry voice. "Kids, it is time for dinner! Report to the kitchen at once!"

They both jumped off the couch and headed toward the kitchen. Laid out on the table for them were two plates full of mashed potatoes, green peas, and corned beef.

Gaz scoffed as she took a seat. "I was kinda hoping for lasagna and garlic bread instead of _this_." Nevertheless, she proceeded to eat her meal and guzzled down her orange soda, thankful that she no longer tasted pig in her mouth.

But Dib just poked at the food on his plate with a fork. He lost his appetite two minutes ago.

* * *

 _Four year old Dib sat alone in the sandbox. He drew an alien's head in the sand with a stick, which was a simple oval shape with two large eyes and a small mouth. The other kids were playing on the jungle gym, teeter-totters, and swings, having the time of their lives. Their parents watched them from the benches and casually chatted with each other. Professor Membrane wasn't there, of course, due to his tight schedule._

 _Dib was used to playing by himself, but he still felt very lonely at times. The only "friend" he had at the moment was alien in the sand, and in attempt to make himself feel less lonely, he started to talk to it as though it were a real person._

 _"Um, hi there," he said to the drawing. "I'm Dib. What's your name?"_

 _Of course, the drawing said nothing back to him, but he continued to pretend to have a conversation with it._

 _"Oh, that's a nice name. So...what's it like living in outer space?"_

 _He heard some kids laughing and looked up to see a group of them pointing at him._

 _"Ha ha ha! That kid's talking to himself!"_

 _"What a weirdo!"_

 _"Freak!"_

 _Dib felt his eyes burn with tears and just wanted to hide his head in the sand...and sure enough, he got his wish right after a ball suddenly him from behind, causing him to fall flat on his face. He heard the kids laugh even harder, but then the laughter slowly died down, and then there was completely silence._

 _Slowly, he lifted himself up and spat out some sand, and when he looked around him, all the other kids had disappeared somehow, along with their parents. And he instantly realized that he was all alone._

 _Whimpering and feeling very scared, he hugged his knees close to his chest and looked down at the hole that he made with his face, the spot where the alien drawing used to be. Then a shadow loomed over it, and Dib slightly lifted his head to see a pair of black boots standing next to the sandbox._

 _He looked up even further to see a small, strange-looking green man with big red bug eyes and two antennas sticking out his head. He wore black gloves and was dressed in a pink tunic of some kind._

 _Dib gasped softly as the man knelt down to his level, and he saw his own reflection in those shiny ruby eyes. Without talk, the stranger reached for him and gently lifted him up, and for some reason, Dib wasn't afraid._

 _The green man studied him over before opening his mouth to speak, revealing strange zipper teeth. "Earth child, what you doing here all by yourself? Where is your parental unit?"_

 _Dib's mouth gaped open and he pointed a tiny finger at the man's face. "Are you an...alien?"_

 _The stranger suddenly got nervous. "Eh? Uh, of course not! I am a perfectly normal human worm baby like you!"_

 _Dib smiled excitedly. "You ARE an alien! I knew it! Aliens DO exist!"_

 _"LIES!" The alien suddently screamed in his face. "I am normal!"_

 _Dib still smiled up at him. "I'm Dib! What's your name?"_

 _The alien paused before setting him down on the grass. "I am, uh, Zim."_

 _"Zim?" Dib cocked his head. "That's a weird name."_

 _Zim pouted and crossed his arms. "Nonsense! It is a normal human name! Look up the most popular human boy names in, uh...1987! You'll find it!"_

 _Dib reached over and grabbed Zim's gloved hand. "Will you play with me until my Dad gets back from work?"_

 _Zim seemed unsure, but eventually and reluctantly nodded his head. "I suppose so...?"_

 _Squealing in delight, Dib dragged him over to the set of swings and sat down on one. He looked up at Zim and kicked his tiny legs in the air. "Give me a push!"_

 _Zim went behind him and give him a little push, which felt more like a tap and he barely moved._

 _"No, you gotta push me harder!" Dib told him. Zim put a little more force into it and he started to swing. "That's it! Keep going!" The alien kept pushing him with the same amount of force until Dib urged him to make him go higher._

 _Dib laughed as the he got higher and higher. He looked up at the sky which was now blue instead of the normal red. The wind softly blew in his face and made the scythe of his hair flow. He felt like he could fly. Before he knew what he was doing, he let go of the swing._

 _But instead of falling to the ground, his body floated higher and higher, reaching past the mountains of clouds and eventually into the stars. He looked down at his feet, and to his amazement, he was floating above Earth._

 _He was finally in outer space!_

 _Shooting stars flew past him at a close range, and he succeeded in catching one. The tiny ball of light felt warm in his hands, and as he held it close to his chest, he felt a peace and happiness that he hadn't felt before. He slowly closed his eyes and smiled to himself._

 _"NO! LET GO OF ZIM!"_

 _At the sound of the alien's panicked screams, Dib's eyes opened and the star in his hands disappeared. Suddenly, the gravity was shut off like a switch and he plummeted to the Earth, screaming._

 _As he closer and closer to the ground, he shut his eyes and expected to feel a WHOLE lot of pain. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, but to his surprise, he wasn't terribly hurt._

 _"UNHAND ME, YOU FILTHY HUMAN!"_

 _Dib's head shot up and he saw a man wearing a black trench coat and a pair of dark sunglasses drag Zim to his car in the street. The alien struggled to get out of his grasp, and he looked directly over at Dib._

 _He reached a hand toward the child, his red eyes full of fear. "Dib-child! Help me! HELP ME!" His voice cracked with fear at the last part._

 _Dib instantly got on his feet and ran over to them. "HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"_

 _The man in the trench coat looked up at him and smirked. "Don't worry, kid, he's in good hands now." He snickered maliciously as he threw Zim into the back of his black Jaguar before hopping into the driver's seat. The vehicle sped away, screeching and leaving behind a trail of smoke._

 _"NO!" Dib screamed. "DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY!"_

 _Dib did his best to chase after them, but his tiny little legs couldn't keep up and he just stood in the middle of the street, alone. The sky above him was red again, having lost its beautiful blue color._

 _Tears dripped down his face and he began to cry._

 _"Please...don't take him away."_

* * *

Dib opened his eyes to the ceiling of his bedroom. He rubbed his eyes and sat up in his bed.

"Oh, man," he mumbled. "That was the weirdest dream ever." He ran a hand over his face...and was surprised to feel his cheeks wet. He realized that he had been crying in his sleep, which was a first.

Groaning, he wiped his tears and buried his face in his arms.

"What is _wrong_ with me?"

 **I'd like to say thanks again to all those who are supporting me. You guys are my motivation. :)**

 **See you next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fox later. Uh, I mean, fix! See what I mean...? :/**

"Wa-pa-pa-pa-pow! Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! Spleeeen! Where are you?! Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!"

Zim continued to do what he still believed to be the call of the fox as he went deeper into the woods. His new furry companion must've been hiding in the bushes somewhere, so he started looking through every bush he could. Twenty minutes had passed and he still couldn't find Spleen. But just as he was about to put his hand into the next bush, he felt something bite his leg.

He yelped in shock and thought that he was being attacked by another creature of the forest. But when he whipped his head around, he was surprised to see Spleen with his jaws clamped down on his leg and tugging on it.

"Spleen? What are you doing?"

The fox let go of him and started whimpering and making grunt sounds, glancing at the bush before them. Zim started to suspect that perhaps there was something dangerous in that bush and he activated one of his metallic spider legs. Very slowly and carefully, he lowered the leg into the bush...

 _Clank!_

The leg jerked as something clamped onto it with great force. Judging by the sound, it was something metallic. He carefully pulled it out of the bushes and his eyes widened as he realized that it was one of those leg-hold traps that humans used to capture wood creatures. Had Spleen not stopped him, his hand would've been caught by it, and he'd be seriously injured.

He looked back at Spleen, who sat on the grass with his bushy tail slightly behind him. No one had ever done something like this for him. Back on his home planet, it was every Irken for himself. He fended for himself and trampled on others to get what he wanted. He grew up thinking that he needed no one because he never had anyone in life who ever cared about him.

But this Earth creature, this fox, he may had just saved Zim's life, and for the first time in his life, Zim felt this strange burning sensation in his eyes and warm feeling deep in his insides. He knelt down to stoke the top of the fox's head.

"Thank you," he quietly said. "Zim is grateful to you." He noticed how unusually emotional his voice sounded and cleared his throat, speaking in his normal proud voice. "Anyway! I wish to explore these woods and learn more about nature, and you obviously know this forest better than everyone else. So Zim has chosen _you_ to be his guide. Feel honored!"

Spleen merely stared up at him before his ear twitched and he swiftly turned to his left, spotting a rabbit that was peeking through the bushes. Upon realizing that it had been seen, the bunny fled and the hungry fox sped after it, leaving Zim alone once again.

"Eh? Wait! Spleen! Don't me alone with the traps! Spleen!"

Not wishing to be caught by an unseen trap, Zim used his spider legs to hoist himself off the ground and chased after Spleen. But even above ground, he couldn't find his furry companion. As he passed by a tree, he noticed a bird's nest full of newly hatched chicks. He turned back and inched a little closer to inspect them.

They were ugly little naked pink things with huge closed bug eyes, their beaks wide open and their necks stretched out.

Zim felt a shiver down his spine as he watched, disgusted by the sight of those chicks. "Eeugh! Hideous little things!" But as he lowered himself down, he noticed something pink and tiny squirming at the bottom of the tree. He landed on his feet and was shocked to see a baby bird lying on the ground and stretching its neck out, begging to be fed.

What happened to this little fellow? Did it somehow fall out of the nest and its mother just hadn't noticed yet? If it wasn't returned to the nest soon, it would surely die of starvation, and for some reason, Zim actually _cared_.

He gently picked up the baby and placed it back in the nest with its siblings. Smiling proudly to himself, he continued to search for Spleen, and eventually he found the fox feasting on the now dead rabbit. All that was left of it now was a few pieces of meat.

Zim was a little angry at Spleen for abandoning him and crossed his arms as he lowered himself back on the ground. "Spleen! Why did you run off and leave me behind like that? You are my guide! You're supposed to _guide_ me, duh! What if I was caught by one of those traps?"

Spleen finished eating and licked his paws for a few moments before walking over to Zim and suddenly flipping on his back, his white tummy up. He made grunting sounds and wiggled around, indicating that he wanted the alien to play with him.

Zim merely grunted and looked away, still angry. "Zim is not in the mood to play with you right now."

Spleen only continued to grunt even louder, whining even. It sounded like the fox was begging now, and despite his best efforts to remain stone faced, Zim just couldn't stay mad at him.

With a crooked smirk, Zim knelt down and started scratching the fox's tummy, and Spleen reached up to grab Zim's arm with his paws and started biting him. It didn't hurt at all, though, and Zim allowed him to nibble at his hand. It was so amusing to watch, and Zim found himself laughing.

* * *

"I'm starting to get a little hungry," he mumbled as he rested on a moss-covered log, Spleen lying at his feet and taking a nap. "I should've brought some snacks with me...that is, I _would've_ if GIR hadn't eaten them all." His digestive organ began to rumble with hunger, and Spleen's ears perked up at the sound.

Sensing his green friend's hunger, he got up and began to tug at the rim of Zim's tunic with his teeth. He wanted the alien to follow him somewhere.

"What is it now?" Zim asked as he got off the log and followed him to a large bush. As they closer, he noticed a bunch of blackberries hanging off the branches. They looked rather delicious. But wait, these were grown in the wild. What if they were poisonous? He looked down at Spleen, an unsure look on his face. The fox only wagged his tail and briefly glanced at the bush before them.

Deciding to trust his animal friend, Zim reluctantly picked a berry off one of the branches and put it in his mouth. He then began to chew very slowly and eventually swallowed. He waited to drop dead to the ground within seconds or at least feel his insides burn, but nothing happened. He licked his lips with his long snakelike tongue, tasting the sweet juice.

These berries were not only edible. They were amazing!

He immediately began picking more berries and stuffing them in his pant pockets (yes, he had pockets).

* * *

Later that night, in the lab below the base, as he sat in his chair and read more files on Earth and its creatures, he helped himself to a bowl of blackberries that he collected from the forest. Who would've thought that Mother Nature would provide such delicious and nutritious foods that even Zim, himself, could eat without causing internal damage or making him burst into flames.

Once again, he was in debt to his fox friend. He couldn't wait to visit him again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, upstairs GIR was sitting on the couch and munching on nachos and cheese dip, getting it all over floor and even on the cushion. His favorite show (or at least, one of his eight hundred favorite shows) was interrupted by a weather alert. The weather man stood in front of a map of the area that showed the direction and severity of the approaching storm.

 _"We interrupt this program for a storm update. A severe thunderstorm is heading toward the area with a wind speed up to 60 miles per hour. We advise you to stay indoors until it passes..."_

GIR stopped munching for a moment, staring at the T.V, before he smiled stupidly, cheese dip spilling down his chin. "I love this show..."

* * *

 ** _The next morning..._**

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THERE WAS A STORM LAST NIGHT?!" Zim was screaming his head off at GIR as they sped toward the forest in their ship. "Spleen could be hurt! Or _worse_! Of all the stupid...!"

The ship nearly crashed to the ground, but Zim didn't care. He was concerned about his fox friend. He jumped out of the space cruiser as soon as it landed and sprinted into the woods.

"SPLEEN! SPLEEN, WHERE ARE YOU?! ANSWER ZIM! WA-PA-PA-PA-POW! HATEE-HATEE-HATEE-HO!"

A lot of branches and even some knocked down trees were scattered all around him as he ran. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a nest lying in the middle of the path. He knelt down and lifted it off the ground, and to his horror, a couple of dead baby birds were underneath it.

They looked exactly like the baby birds he saw yesterday. Perhaps they _were_ the same birds, and the realization filled him with dread and despair. Even after he saved that one bird from dying of starvation, it was still killed by the storm several hours later, along with its siblings. They never got the chance to grow and fly out of the nest, to explore the rest of the world.

Mother Nature was so cruel.

Just then he heard a rustling noise from behind him and whipped his head around. Stepping out of the bushes was Spleen, whose fur was still wet from the storm.

"SPLEEN!" Overwhelmed with relief and joy, Zim ran to the fox and grabbed him in a tight hug, even cuddling with him as though he were a teddy bear. He quickly realized what he was doing and put the fox down, clearing his throat. "Forgive me," he calmly said. "I couldn't control myself."

He took a moment to observe the damage left by the storm. There was no telling just how many animals lost their lives last night, and Spleen could've been one of them. Luckily, he wasn't. He looked back down at the fox, who looked up back at him with his large orange-brown eyes.

There was no way he was losing his friend to the cruel hand of Nature. He wasn't about the lose the first and only friend he ever had.

"Spleen," he knelt down to Spleen's level, "it is clear that you are not safe in the woods. Who knows what perils are in store for you here? That is why I am taking you back to the base with me. No harm shall come to you under my supervision."

He picked up the fox and carried him all the way back to the ship, where GIR waited for them, randomly picking up flowers and eating them.

"We're going home, GIR!" Zim announced to the robot. "And Spleen is coming with us!"

"YAAAY!" GIR stopped eating and hopped into the cruiser. Zim climbed in and placed Spleen in between himself and GIR. The poor thing flinched and his ears flattened at the loud humming sound that the ship made as it started and lifted off the ground.

Zim was too happy to notice his friend's distress and instead focused on the controls of the ship. "You will like your new home, Spleen. I am sure that you will be very happy with us."

Spleen mover closer to the windshield and looked down at the forest longingly as the ship took off.

 **So Zim is taking a wild fox home with him...this won't end well...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Now this chapter is going to be _sad_. Just a warning. But it's necessary for this story, believe it or not.**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

Dib never realized just how many people in this city owned dogs. Everywhere he looked, people were walking their dogs. One rich, obese lady had a Teacup Yorkie in her purse. Even a blind man who sat on a bench had a Labrador sitting next to him.

Not having a pet made him feel even more like an outcast. (Well, he did have a puppy once, like three years ago, but for some reason, both he and his sister completely forgot about it. Chances were it ran away, or at least, he _hoped_ that it ran away and found a new home.) More than half of the kids at school would brag about the tricks their dogs could perform or the cute cat videos that they recently posted on YouTube. Heck, even Zim was walking his new dog today and-

Wait. _What?_

Dib's jaw dropped at the sight of Zim walking a strange red dog on the sidewalk directly across from him. If Zim had a live animal with him, it was either because he wanpd to perform all kinds of horrible experiments on it or...or for some other sick purpose. Suspicious and feeling concerned for the dog, he darted across the street and ran after the alien.

"HEY! HEY, ZIM!"

Upon hearing that familiar, annoying voice, Zim stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned his head toward the dirt-child with a murderous glare. "Dib," he greeted him in a chilling voice.

Dib confronted and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Just what do you think you're doing with that-?" His voice trailed off as he realized that the animal that Zim had on a leash wasn't a dog, but a fox. A freaking fox. The creature slowly and cautiously walked toward the boy and looked up at him with curious orange-brown eyes. "Wha...is that...is that a _fox_?"

Zim proudly lifted his chin and nodded. "Yes. This is my new companion, Spleen."

Dib paused before raising an eyebrow. "'Spleen'?"

Zim rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Yes, Spllleeeeennnn," he pronounced to Dib slowly before picking up the fox and presenting him to the boy. "Look at his collar. You will clearly see the name that Zim has chosen for him."

Dib leaned in closer to read the white embroidered words on the blue collar, which, indeed, read, "SPLEEN." He couldn't restrain from chuckling in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but...'Spleen'? What kind of name is...know what? Forget I asked. Anyway, where'd you get him?"

Zim huffed and held the fox closer to him, stroking the top of his head. "Not that it's any of your business, Earth-smell, but I found Spleen in the woods."

Dib's brown eyes widened. "Wait, you mean you just _took_ him out of the forest?"

The alien nodded, looking down at the fox with a smile. "Yes, and now he lives at the base with me. Isn't that right, Spleen?" The fox licked Zim's nose (or at least the spot where his nose would be if he had one) in response.

There it was again. That same gentle smile that he wore when he was interacting with the butterflies. Clearly, the alien was fond of the fox, but he still didn't know any better, and Dib had to say something. "Zim," he said in a unusually calm voice, "look, you can't just take him out of the wild like that."

Zim glared over at him once again. "Why not?" he hissed.

Dib started to get nervous as he quickly realized that he had just struck a nerve, but he continued on. "It's where he belongs. Foxes aren't meant to be kept as pets."

"Humans keep pet foxes as well!" Zim defended. "I've seen the videos on the N-ter-net!"

"Yeah, but that's different," Dib explained. "Those foxes were bred in captivity. Spleen was born in the wild. He's familiar with the woods, but here in civilization...well, it's completely new and strange to him, maybe even scary. And you of all people should know what that feels like."

Zim's glare faltered, but only for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around Spleen protectively. "Are you saying that Zim cannot take care of Spleen?" he demanded.

Dib scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, Zim! You couldn't even take care of that goldfish that you won at the carnival! What makes you think that you can take care of a fox?"

"How dare you insult Zim like that!" the alien pointed a finger at him. "Spleen is a lot safer with me than he was in the forest, I know that for certain!"

"But, Zim-" Dib began to retort, but Zim interrupted him.

"I know what you're trying to do," he hissed. "Don't think you can fool Zim."

"What are you talking about?" Dib asked, confused by Zim's statement.

"You're trying to separate the two of us," Zim accused. "All you ever want to do is to hurt Zim."

Dib shook his head. "No, Zim, that's not it! I'm genuinely concerned about the fox! This has nothing to do with our stupid rivalry!"

"I don't believe you," Zim said before he turned to walk away with Spleen in his arms. "Come, Spleen. We are going home."

"Zim, wait!" Dib pleaded, but the alien continued walking and eventually disappeared behind a corner. He sighed and shook his head. While it was touching that Zim actually cared about someone other than himself, the fool just couldn't see that the animal needed to stay in the wild.

This wasn't going to end well. He just knew it.

* * *

Stuffing flew everywhere as Spleen tore up the cushions of the couch, and GIR (who was still in his dog disguise) was rolling around in the mess as though it were snow, having the time of his life. He even made several tiny snowmen out of balls of wool. Zim was down in his lab, unaware of what was taking place upstairs. Giggling like crazy, the robot got up and ran into the kitchen, climbing onto the cabinet and pulling a chocolate chip cookie from out of a jar. He ran back to Spleen and handed him the cookie, which the fox gladly accepted and devoured. In gratitude, he began to lick GIR's face, which made the robot squeal with happiness.

The two bonded rather quickly and they played games together. Spleen became closer to GIR than even Pig, and the swine became jealous of the fox (until he was chased out of the house by the hungry predator). Sometimes Spleen would even join GIR at his regular tea parties, though he was too restless to sit still at the table and would wonder off without finishing the muffins.

As Spleen continued to eat away at the couch, the doorbell suddenly rang and GIR leapt in the air with glee. "PIZZA!" he screamed happily as he dashed toward the door. Spleen's ears perked up at the sound of the knob being turned and stood up on the couch.

Standing on the doorstep was a nerdy teenager with a baseball-sized zit on his left cheek, and in his hands were three boxes of greasy, steaming hot pizza. "Pizza delivery," he said in a cracked, high-pitched voice and bent his knees to hand the boxes to the green dog-like creature.

"Yaaay!" GIR lifted his arms to take the pizza from the young man when something red dashed right past him and out the door. The delivery guy yelped in surprise as the creature sprinted through the gap between his legs and accidentally dropped the boxes.

Although GIR was incredibly stupid most of the time, he instantly knew that he had made a huge mistake as he watched his fox friend disappear into the night.

"Uh-oh..."

...

Zim proudly held the newly made mini Irken outfit in his hands. It was made exclusively for Spleen, with a hole in the pants for his bushy tail to fit through. He even made tiny gloves and and boots for the fox's paws and feet. Surely, Spleen would feel honored to wear the image of the almighty Zim.

"Um, Master?"

Zim whipped around to find GIR (without his disguise on) standing behind him, a nervous expression on his face. The robot had done something bad again. He let out an exasperated sigh. "What is it this time, GIR?"

GIR twiddled with his robot thumbs. "Um, Spleen got out."

Zim's ruby eyes instantly bulged and one of his antennas twitched. "Come again?" he calmly asked.

"Spleen got out," GIR repeated, flinching away and preparing himself for the thunder.

"... _ **WHAT?!**_ "

* * *

Dib nearly jumped off his couch in surprise as someone suddenly started banging on the front door. He could also hear muffled shouting. Without even thinking, he bolted toward the door and swung it open. To his surprise, Zim was standing on his doorstep, panting and sweating and in his human disguise. He obviously ran a great distance, and judging by the horrified look on his face, something terrible had happened.

"Zim? What...what are you doing here?"

"Dib," Zim gasped as he continued to pant, "Spleen...he has escaped. GIR let him out. He's out there all alone."

"He ran off?" Dib asked. "Well, what do you want _me_ to do about it?" Although he had an idea of what the alien wanted from him.

"I..." Zim paused. Saying this wasn't going to be easy. He took a deep breath before he finished his sentence. "Zim...needs...your help."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "You're asking _me_ for help?"

Zim begrudgingly nodded.

The boy was tempted to just say no and slam the door in the alien's face. After all, he had done Zim more favors than he deserved, and Zim, being the egotistical and arrogant alien that he was, never once did anything for Dib in return (except if it benefited him, as well). Still, Zim wasn't the same as he was when they first met, and he was beginning to show compassion toward other creatures. Irkens were known to be incapable of love, but Dib could tell that Zim really loved Spleen. It was painfully obvious.

Dib sighed and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. "Okay, let's go look for him."

* * *

Spleen could hear all kinds of noises around him, noises that were unfamiliar and frightening. And he could smell other animals from every corner, although he couldn't tell which scent belonged to a prey or a predator. He wanted to get out of this strange place and return to the sanctuary of the forest. He dashed across the street when a bright light was coming toward him at an incredible speed.

The car came to a screeching halt and the headlights blinded the poor fox. He was too terrified to move and just stood there with his ears flattened and his tail tucked between his legs even when a man and a woman stepped out of the vehicle.

"Oh, my gosh," the woman placed a hand to her mouth in shock. "We almost ran over a fox."

"What's a fox doing here in the city?" the man stepped a few steps toward the fox. "Hey, little guy, you okay?"

It was then that Spleen finally found the strength to move and he fled into an alley. He hid underneath a damp cardboard box and stayed there for several minutes, all curled up and shivering from the cold.

Just when he began to relax, he heard some clawed feet walking across the concrete floor and the sound of rapid sniffing. A black wet nose suddenly peeked under the box and picked up Spleen's scent. Within seconds the box was lifted off the ground and a huge drooling dog was staring down at him with dark eyes. It started to growl and snarl, showing its sharp teeth.

Spleen heard some more growling and turned to see several more dogs walking into the alley. They licked their jaws and stared hungrily at the fox.

He glanced to the other end of the alley and spotted a wire fence that surrounded a small basketball court. It was his only chance for survival. Taking a great risk, he darted toward the gate with the dogs following close. He managed to reach it and staring climbing to the top. The dogs barked and jumped up at him as he climbed, snapping at him with their teeth.

Unfortunately, one of the dogs managed to reach his tail and Spleen squealed in pain.

* * *

"SPLEEN! SPLEEN! WA-PA-PA-PA-POW! HATEE-HATEE-HATEE-HO!"

"Zim, what are you doing?" Dib looked at the alien in confusion.

"I am calling for Spleen, what's it look like I'm doing?!" Zim snapped, still searching frantically for his furry friend. He peeked into some trash cans before throwing them aside in frustration. He buried his face in his hands and moaned in despair. "It's hopeless. We'll never find him."

Dib never saw Zim so upset and defeated and he felt sympathy for the alien. He approached Zim and reached a comforting hand toward him. "Zim, listen, we'll find-"

There was a distant growling sound and Zim lifted his head at the sound. "Spleen?" he said barely above a whisper before sprinting in the direction of the noise. "SPLEEN!" He could hear Dib calling after him as he ran but he didn't care. All that mattered to him at the moment was Spleen.

As he approached an alley he could hear the growling getting louder and he slowly peeked his head in. "Spleen?" he softly called out, hoping that the fox was there.

Instead, he saw a small group of dogs eating something. He could hear the sound of flesh tearing and it made his skin crawl. Two of them fought over a piece of stringy meat, stretching it from both sides. And the stench, it made Zim nearly gag and he stumbled backwards, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

"Bleaugh! Filthy, barbaric beasts!" He was about to leave when he noticed something familiar on the ground next to the dogs. It was a tattered, blood-stained blue collar.

At first, Zim denied with every fiber of his being that it belonged to his beloved fox. After all, Spleen was way too smart to be captured by a bunch of dumb mutts. He was probably hiding somewhere waiting for Zim to find him and take him home.

But then he saw the words that were embroidered on the fabric material: "SPLEEN".

 _No..._

Zim dropped to his knees, feeling like his entire world was crumbling apart. Everything was spinning around. He never even noticed Dib approach him.

"Zim, what is it?" Dib noticed the way Zim was staring blankly ahead of him. "Did you find him?" He followed his gaze and saw the dogs...and the bloody collar. All color drained from his face as the grim reality of it all settled in. "Oh, no..."

He looked back down at the alien, who didn't move or even blink. It was as if he was in a daze. Clearly the death of the fox broke him, and Dib never saw him in this state before. He was concerned about the little green man, but he didn't know what to say to comfort him. What _could_ he say, after all?

"Um, Zim?"

The alien didn't respond. He just knelt there, staring into space.

"Zim, look it...it's gonna be okay. It...it wasn't your fault." _Actually, it was, but..._

Zim suddenly got up and clenched his fists at his sides, his entire body trembling. Dib had a feeling that it wasn't because he was cold.

"No, it wasn't Zim's fault," Zim said in an eerily calm voice. "And I know who is to blame for all of this."

Dib instantly felt a shiver go down his spine.

* * *

The door slammed open and Zim stomped into the base, his face distorted with rage. Dib followed but was at a safe distance away from the furious alien.

 _"_ ** _GIR!_** _"_ Zim screamed at the top of his air-sacs. It was so loud that Dib could've sworn that he heard one of the windows crack.

At the sound of his master calling him, the robot sprinted out of the kitchen and into the living room, carrying a tall pile of paper in his hands.

"MASTER!" GIR had a hopeful smile on his face as he approached Zim. "Did you find Spleen?! Where is Sp-"

Dib flinched as Zim suddenly backhanded GIR with such force that the robot flew across the room and crashed into the wall. The papers flew everywhere and Dib managed to catch one and read it.

Written in blue crayon near the top of the page were the words, "REWARD FOR LOST FOX. $5,000,000,000 IN HUMAN MUNNY." Below the words was a drawing of Spleen, which was obviously done by GIR.

Dib looked up at the alien, hoping that his anger has cooled down somewhat. But Zim was still breathing heavily and continued to glare murderously at the robot, who was curled up on the floor, still shaken from the blow he just received from his master. Slowly, Zim approached GIR and the robot looked up at him with tearful cyan eyes.

"M-Master," GIR squeaked, "why'd you hit me? That really hurt."

Zim only snarled at him and held up the tattered collar. "Spleen is dead!" he shouted angrily at the poor robot. "Spleen is dead and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" He threw the collar at GIR, who yelped and flinched away. "If you hadn't been so STUPID as to open the door, he wouldn't have gotten out! YOU KILLED HIM!"

"Master, please stop yelling at me," GIR pleaded as the tears came pouring out. Master never yelled at him like this before, and it was scaring him. "I'm sorry!"

Those words seemed to make him even angrier. "Sorry? SORRY?!" Zim yanked him up by the antennae and threw him across the room again. GIR screamed in pain as he collided with the wall once again. There were dents all over his body from the assault and one eye was cracked. He even puked out a few screws and bolts, and Dib couldn't just stand by and watch anymore.

"ZIM, STOP! YOU'RE HURTING HIM!"

Zim ignored the human and stomped into the kitchen. Dib could hear him going through the cabinets for something. When he returned, he was carrying a hammer in his hand. Dib looked on in horror as Zim slowly walked toward GIR, lightly pounding the hammer into his palm.

"You've failed me for the last time, GIR," he whispered in a cold, unforgiving voice as he got closer to the robot, lifting the tool over his head.

"NO!" Dib dashed in between them and stood protectively in front of GIR. He couldn't believe that he was risking his life to save a _robot_ of all things, but this was just...barbaric. "Zim, this has to stop."

Zim glared hatefully at Dib and clenched the hammer even tighter. "Move, Dib."

Dib shook his head. He knew that he'd probably get killed for this, but he had to do something or else Zim was going to do something he'd regret for the rest of his life...again.

"Zim, it wasn't GIR's fault that Spleen died." He pointed a finger at the alien. "It was _**yours**_."

Zim's eye twitched in anger and Dib knew that he was in deep dooky now, but he refused to back down.

"You were the one who dragged Spleen out of the forest. I warned you that he wouldn't survive in the city. And he was miserable here! Can't you see that? I mean, why else do you think he took off the moment he had the chance? He wanted to go back to the woods because that was where he belonged! I know you cared about Spleen, Zim, but if you _really_ cared about him, you would've just let him stay in the wild."

Zim's face slowly softened during the speech. But the pain and anger was still there, and by the time Dib finished, the alien had his back turned to the two, dropping the hammer. For a moment, he just stood there in silence.

Dib took a step forward. "Zim?"

"You want him?" Zim croaked. "Take him. He is of no use to me."

Dib immediately knew who was referring to, and so did GIR. The battered robot began to sob and clutched Dib's trench coat.

"Master, no..." GIR pleaded.

Zim waved him away with his back still turned to them. "Get out of my sight. Begone with you."

Dib felt so much sympathy for the poor robot, who continued to cry and buried his face in the boy's coat. He gently picked him up and let him cry on his shoulder. "Come on, GIR," he softly said. "I'll take you home with me."

As Dib walked out the door, he stopped briefly to look back and saw Zim picking up collar and holding it close to his chest. When he closed the door and started to walk down the path, he heard some more sobbing.

And it wasn't coming from GIR.

 **Oh, Zim... :,(**


	12. Chapter 12

**So the Tallest will make an appearance in this chapter! Surprise! But it ain't gonna be pretty...**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"Oh, come on!" Tallest Purple whined as he noticed a hole in his cup, droplets of his favorite soda pop dripping into the ground.

"Hey, I warned you not to get styrofoam," Tallest Red shrugged. The two mighty rulers of planet Irk sat in their comfy chairs as they watched the invasion and destruction of another planet on a large screen. To them, it was just like watching a movie, munching on snacks as they enjoyed the show.

More Irken ships fired their laser cannons and obliterated another continent on the red-orange planet. Tallest Red sprang up from his chair and pumped his fists in the air. "YEAH!" he cheered. "More lasers! Use more lasers!"

Purple shook his head and groaned. "What is it with you and lasers? Honestly? Hey, table drone! Get me another cherry soda! And in a glass, this time!" He carelessly threw away the cup, which landed in the small pile of trash.

A tiny Irken with a tray strapped to his head wobbled over to the Tallest and bowed. "Yes, my Tallest," he squeaked as he hurried off.

Suddenly a beeping sound echoed in the control room and one of the pilots read the caller ID. "Incoming transmission...from planet Earth!" he declared dramatically.

Both of the Tallest simultaneously groaned. Zim again.

"Do we _have_ to answer?" Purple huffed. "I'm really not in the mood right now."

"We might as well," Red sighed, rubbing his temples. "If we don't, he'll never stop bothering us."

The pilot pressed the button to answer and Zim appeared on the screen. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked extremely depressed with his antennas flattened and his shoulders sagged.

"Eeugh!" Purple exclaimed. "Zim, you look awful!"

"Greetings, my Tallest," Zim croaked with a brief salute before dropping his arm, which swung back and forth like a noodle.

"Um..." Red scratched his chin, "is something bothering you, Zim?"

Zim closed his eyes and bowed his head, letting out a heavy, disheartened sigh. "My Tallest, I know you were depending on me to conquer Earth and claim it in the name of the Irken Empire. But..."

"Buuuuut...?" Red slowly repeated, waiting for Zim to get to the point.

"I-I mean, nothing pleases me more than to serve you, for you are my Almighty Tallest."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Purple said, becoming bored already.

"But...as much as I want to prove my loyalty to you-"

"GET TO THE POINT!" both Red and Purple shouted in unison.

Zim briefly lifted his antennas in surprise by the Tallest's outburst before flattening them again as he prepared to break the news to his rulers.

"My Tallest...I cannot complete my mission."

The control room went completely silent. Even the ships that were floating outside the Massive stopped firing at the planet. The Tallest stared up at the screen dumbfounded with their jaws dropped and their eyes enlarged.

"Ex- _cuse_ me?" Red asked incredulously.

"This planet..." Zim gripped the sides of his head, "it's making me crazy. It's casting some kind of spell on me. I've been distracted from the mission for the past week and I even became attached to a filthy Earth animal. It's making me...soft. Too soft."

"So what?" Purple snapped. "You're just gonna _quit_ the mission like when you _quit_ being banished to Foodcourtia?! That's...that's not cool, Zim! Not cool at all!"

"My Tallest, I beg of you!" Zim whimpered, his ruby eyes brimming with tears. "I'll accept whatever punishment you have in mind for me. I'll go back to Foodcourtia or even work on Planet Dirt for the rest of my life. Just please...allow me to leave this ball of dirt."

The Tallest looked at each other before turning back to the screen.

"Uh, one moment, Zim," Red said. He and Purple turned away from Zim and started whispering to each other.

"What do we do now?" Purple asked Red. "We can't let him loose. He's a complete lunatic!"

"Shhh!" Red shushed him harshly. "I know. I know. You know, I've been thinking...maybe it's time we told him the truth."

Purple gasped softly. "You mean...?"

Red nodded. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Besides, I can't take anymore of Zim's crazy ideas and ramblings."

Purple shuddered. "Yeah, me neither. It was kinda fun while it lasted, though."

Red stared at him as though he were absolutely crazy.

"You know what, forget I said that," Purple cleared his throat. "Let's get this over with."

They turned back to the screen with serious expressions on their faces, which made Zim feel nervous.

"Well, my Tallest?" Zim said with a hopeful smile. "Will I be relieved of my duties?"

"Zim, we've discussed the matter," Red said, "and we have decided _not_ to grant you your request."

Zim felt his blood pumping organ rip right in half. "What?" he said in a cracked voice. "But my Tallest-"

"Look, Zim, we have something to confess," Red said, but paused and looked to Purple. "Go ahead and tell him."

"What?!" Purple yelled and stubbornly crossed his arms. "No way! You tell him! It was _your_ idea, after all!"

"Yeah, you got a point there," Red mumbled before taking a deep breath and facing the invader. "Zim...it was all a lie."

"...Eh?" Zim titled his head in confusion. "What was all a lie?"

"The mission. You're not really an invader. We lied, okay?"

Zim stared at him blankly for a moment, then he suddenly let out a boisterous laugh, much to the Tallest's confusion.

"Um, Zim?" Purple nervously backed away, feeling genuinely scared.

"Oh, my Tallest," Zim chuckled, "surely you jest. I really needed a good laugh and I thank you for that. Now back to the matter, I-"

"Zim," Red cut him off, maintaining his grim expression. "We're not joking. It's true."

Upon realizing that his rulers were indeed being serious, Zim's antennas slowly sank back again and he held onto the controls of his computer to keep himself from falling to the floor in shock. "My Tallest...I don't...I don't understand. You _lied_ to Zim?"

"Uh-huh," Purple said rather unsympathetically.

"But...why?"

"Why?" Purple scoffed. "Because you're INSANE, Zim!"

"You almost destroyed our planet and caused the deaths of millions of Irkens," Red explained. "You're a dangerous psychopath, Zim. We had to do something to get rid of you, and banishing you to Foodcourtia obviously didn't work."

Zim slowly shook his head in denial. "But...you knew about Earth..."

"Actually, we didn't know that the planet even existed," Red confessed.

"Yeah," Purple joined in. "We were kinda hoping you'd get lost and starve to death or get eaten by some...space creature thing, I dunno. So we made the whole thing up to get you off our backs. Get it?"

"Then...GIR isn't my...?"

"We made your robot out of garbage," Red said in a cold voice. "Just like you are, Zim. You're a disgrace to the Irken Empire, and we've been more generous to you than you deserve. But that ends now. Zim, you are hereby banished to Earth for the remainder of your miserable, useless life. You can rot on that mud ball for all we care. And don't call us again. Ever. Pilot, cut the transmission."

The screen went back to the destruction of the planet and Red sat back on his chair. "I can't believe we finally did it," he sighed. "I feel like a big load's been lifted off my shoulders."

"I know," Purple joined him and picked up the glass of soda that was bring served to him by the table drone. "Can't believe we waited so long, though. Oh, well." He then raised his glass. "To the Irken Empire!"

Red smirked and raised his cup. "To the Irken Empire."

* * *

Zim sank to his knees and hugged himself, trembling and holding back the sob that threatened to escape his throat.

His mission...a lie? This had to be a nightmare. All of it. Losing Spleen and then being told by his Tallest that he was a fraud. He laid down on the cold floor of his lab and rocked himself, closing his eyes shut and willing himself to wake up.

"Come on..." he rasped. "Wake up...wake up...wake...up..."

But nearly half an hour had passed and he was still lying on the floor. His teeth started to chatter from the overwhelming emotion and the urge to cry was getting stronger.

Finally, he sat up and called for his robot in a cracked voice. "GIR! Come give your master a hug! He could really use one right about now!" He normally didn't like hugs, but he was desperate for some affection and comfort.

But the SIR unit never came.

"GIR?"

 ** _Um, Sir?_** the computer spoke up. _**You kicked him out, remember?**_

"...Oh." The Irken's shoulders sagged and he felt sick in his spooch.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed the plush caterpillar that he got for GIR lying on the floor next to him. He reached over and picked it up, hugging it close to him.

GIR was the only person in the entire universe who ever cared about him, even if he was just a stupid robot. And Zim had attacked and driven him away in a fit of rage. He knew that the SIR unit would never forgive him for abusing him so, even if it was in his nature to be so forgiving.

"What have I done?"

He hugged the caterpillar tighter and sniffled, feeling very cold and alone.

 **Next chapter, Dib will make a very important decision in his life.**


	13. Chapter 13

**This is a MAJOR chapter of Motivation...**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 _Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!_

Gaz grumbled as GIR continued to munch rather noisily on his toast. The energetic robot sat next to her on the couch and she couldn't concentrate on her game with all that noise.

And she was really starting to get P.O'd.

The other day, Dib brought GIR home after Zim supposedly kicked him out. The SIR unit was completely covered in dents and had one cracked eye. It took Dib nearly ten hours to repair him, and even Gaz had to admit that he did a pretty good job since the robot looked good as new. He even shined a little thanks to the wax work that Dib gave him.

But ever since he entered the house, GIR was a constant pain in Gaz's side, always following her around and drinking all of her soda. Just this morning she found him cuddled up at the end of her bed. The thought of him watching her sleep gave her the creeps.

GIR stopped eating for a moment and looked over at her. He smiled widely, revealing chewed up toast in his mouth, which was really disgusting. "HIIIII!" he shouted, spitting out bits of toast in the process. Some of it landed on the screen of her game, which blocked her view and cost her the level. Grinding her teeth and growling in fury, Gaz yelled for her brother at the top of her lungs.

" _DIB!_ "

Immediately, Dib came running down the stairs and into the living room. "What? What's wrong?"

"What's _wrong_?" Gaz hissed as she pointed at GIR. "You letting Zim's robot stay here is wrong!"

"Come on, Gaz," Dib softy said as he walked over to GIR and gently patted him on the head, which made the robot let out a cute coo of contentment. "Have a heart, will ya? Zim beat the crap out of him and then kicked him out."

Gaz raised an eyebrow at him and scoffed. "And I should care because...?"

"Well, what do you want me to do? Just abandon him on the streets? He doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"He's really started to annoy me, Dib!" Gaz's eye twitched.

Dib sighed exasperatedly. "Look, I'll...figure something out, okay?"

"You'd better figure something out soon," Gaz said creepily, "or I'll make him into a toaster, and then he could have all the _toast_ that he wants!"

"I like toast with some jam!" GIR shouted, his mouth still full.

"Fine! Fine! Sheesh." Dib went back upstairs, listening to GIR giggle madly at the Monkey sitcom that was on. He closed the door to his bedroom and sat down at his desk where his laptop was. He had been thinking about what to do with the now homeless robot. It was obvious that he was not welcomed here (but only because of Gaz's impatience with him, otherwise Dib would've gladly adopted him), so there were only two options left: talk Zim into taking back GIR or submit the robot to the Swollen Eyeball as the evidence he needed to prove that Zim was an alien.

After all, GIR's head was just full of alien data...and other random things such as sandwiches and salted nuts. GIR was his last chance to saving his membership, but he came to realize that he just couldn't bring himself to do it. The thought of the robot being dissembled by a bunch of scientist made him feel uneasy, so he ultimately decided not to resort to that option, which meant that he would have to go to Zim's house and confront him.

He knew that it wouldn't be easy, though. Chances were that he'd be torn limb from limb or incinerated by the emotionally unstable alien. He REALLY didn't want to go into that house, but GIR's life depended on it.

...

"Gaz, I'm going over to Zim's house," Dib announced as he headed for the door.

"You're gonna try and talk him into taking GIR back?" Gaz barely looked up from her game.

"Yeah, but I might not make it back," Dib shuddered.

Gaz smirked. "Yeah, I should be so lucky."

Dib tried to pretend that he didn't hear that and was about to turn the knob when he felt something tug at his trench coat. He looked down to see GIR looking up at him with sad cyan eyes.

"Mary," he said in a very quiet tone that was so unlike the robot, "will you tell Master I'm sorry? And I miss him?" He sniffled and wrapped his arms around Dib's waist.

Dib smiled warmly at the robot and patted his head. "I will, GIR. See you in a little bit." _Or at least, I hope so._

* * *

Dib found it strange that the robot gnomes didn't attack him as he casually walked to the front door. Perhaps Zim forgot to turn the security system on?

"Hey, Zim?" he knocked on the door three times. When no one answered, he knocked again, only harder and louder this time. "Zim, you in there?" Again no one responded. Dib felt this sense of dread in his stomach for some reason. Something was wrong. "Okay, uh, I'm coming in, anyway. Don't...shoot me with a laser gun or anything. Okay, here I go."

He slowly opened the door and peeked his head in. It was very dark, and the only light in the room was coming from the television. He pushed the door some more and saw Zim sitting on the couch without his disguise on, staring at the screen. But there was a blankness in his ruby eyes, as though he was in some kind of trance. Was he even alive?

"Zim...?"

The alien slightly turned his head in the boy's direction and gave him somewhat of a smirk and a nod. "Dib," he said in a calm voice.

Dib was certainly not expecting the alien to just greet him in such a polite manner and let him walk right into his base. Yep, something was definitely wrong. "You, uh...how are you-how are you doing?"

Zim shrugged his shoulders. "Eh."

"Oh," Dib rubbed his arm and briefly glanced at the T.V. Man, this was totally awkward. "Anyway, I-I came to talk to you about GIR."

"I already told you, Dib," Zim calmly said as he looked down at his arm. "I don't want him anymore. Besides, he's better off living with you than he is with me."

"Actually, Zim, Gaz doesn't want him in our house," Dib explained. "She can't handle all of his...you know...craziness."

"Figure something out then," Zim said, his eyes still on his arm. "I don't care. In fact, I don't care about anything anymore."

Dib sighed and shook his head, a little annoyed by the way Zim was acting. "Zim, come on. I know you're still bummed about the whole Spleen thing, but you can't just-" He then noticed something on Zim's arm. It looked like some kind of arm brace with words written on it. He squinted his eyes to read them.

The words read, "SELF DESTRUCT".

 _Self-destruct? Oh, god._ "Zim..." Dib's voice quivered in fear, "what are you doing?"

For a moment, Zim said nothing and merely stared at the device on his arm, then he slowly lifted his head and looked straight into Dib's eyes, finalization and hopelessness in his own. "Leave now, Dib."

But Dib wouldn't move. "Zim, what are you doing?" he asked again, more sternly but still a bit shaky.

Zim looked back at the screen and rested his head against the pillows. He looked like he was just relaxing and watching a little T.V, but Dib knew better. "I just spoke with the Tallest," Zim said.

"Tallest? Oh, you mean your leaders."

Zim nodded. "I tried to convince them to let me leave the planet and return to Irk. I'm sick of this place, Dib. And I can't handle becoming attached to another Earth creature just to lose it to the cruel hand of death. But then they...they told me some things."

Dib waited for Zim to continue, but for a while, the invader said nothing else, so he urged him to continue. "What kind of things?"

Zim closed his eyes as he let out a heavy, disheartened sigh. "I'm a fraud, Dib."

"A what now?"

"The mission, the impending invasion of Earth...it was all a lie."

Dib couldn't believe his ears. This had to be a joke. "What...?"

"Turns out they sent me to this planet just to get rid of me. They hate me. They _all_ hate me. I'm a disgrace to the Irken Empire." He opened his eyes again, which glistened with unshed tears. "My very existence is a lie."

Those tears in the alien's eyes proved that this wasn't a joke. What Zim was saying was true: Earth was never in any real danger. There was never going to be an invasion. So all those battles...all those crazy adventures and near-death experiences...they were all for nothing? Had Zim not have been contemplating suicide, Dib would've laughed.

Zim looked over at Dib again and waved at him to leave. "So get of here, Dib, before you explode, too."

Dib shook his head. There was no way he was letting it end this way. "Zim, come on." He slowly approached Zim and reached a shaky hand out to him. "Just...put that thing away."

Zim smiled bitterly at him. "What's the matter, Dib? Afraid you'll lose your proof that aliens do exist?"

Dib couldn't help but chuckle in disbelief. "No, I just-"

"You have GIR, don't you? He's all the evidence you need. And if that's not enough, you can have whatever's left of me after I explode. I figured you'd dancing with joy at this point. So why aren't you dancing, Earth-smell?"

"Zim, put that device away," Dib tried again, trying to show Zim that he was being serious about not wanting him to explode. "It doesn't have to end like this."

Zim was somewhat surprised by Dib's apparent concern. But he merely scoffed and positioned his finger over the button. "Yes, it does."

Dib froze as the finger hovered over the button. He gulped and took a daring step forward. "No, Zim, it doesn't. Just because your leaders say you're garbage doesn't mean that you actually are. People have been saying that I was crazy my entire life, but I _know_ I'm not crazy. You're not gonna let a couple of tall jerks tell you how to live your life, are you?" He was hoping that Zim would be convinced.

But unfortunately, he wasn't. "You're not going to change my mind, Dib. I _will_ press this button, whether you're in here with me or not."

It was beginning to look hopeless, trying to save the alien from destroying himself. But Dib refused to back down. "You won't press it, Zim," he said with confidence. "At least, not while I'm still in the base."

Zim chuckled weakly, amused by the child's delusions and attempted bravery. "And what makes you think I won't?"

"You're not the same as you were when you first arrived, Zim," Dib softly told him. "You've changed. You're starting to value life, to see the beauty in it. Spleen was proof of that. And so were the butterflies."

Zim's eyes enlarged and his antennas went up in surprise. "Butterflies? You mean...?"

Dib smiled a little. "Yeah, I was there in the butterfly house that day. I saw you interacting with them. You may pretend otherwise, Zim, but you care. And if you still do, then you won't press the button and kill me." He took a deep breath, waiting for Zim's reaction.

Zim stared at him for a bit before he suddenly pulled his head back and laughed boisterously, which greatly confused Dib. The alien jumped off the couch and shook his head slowly. " _Tsk_ , you poor, demented, delusional child."

Dib didn't like the sound of that.

"You really think it matters to me whether you live or die?" the alien continued. "Earth animals are one thing, but humans? I could care less about them. In fact, I truly believe that this planet would be better off without them polluting the air and water and filling up the lands with garbage. And you are no more special than they are, Dib. To me, you're just like any other human." He leaned in and smiled cruelly. "You mean _nothing_ to me."

Those words stabbed Dib in the heart. He could almost feel the tears building up in his eyes. How could he had been so stupid as to believe that Zim would ever care about him, even just a little bit? He protected the alien from being burned to death by the rain and spared him at the butterfly house, and for what? Just to hear those cruel words and feel even more insignificant than he did before?

Zim pointed to the door behind Dib. "Last chance, Dib. Get out or die."

Dib sighed and started to head for the exit. What was the point anymore? Zim would never change, no matter how many acts of kindness Dib would show him. His hand touched the knob when the flashback of him and Zim playing with the paper airplanes suddenly appeared in his mind. Then came the image of Zim handling the blue Morph butterfly with such gentleness. And then he remembered the way Zim protectively hugged Spleen, declaring that he would protect the fox from any harm.

He pulled his hand away from the knob. No, he wasn't about to give up on Zim, not when the alien was finally beginning to see the beauty in Earth and give up his destructive ways. He had one more idea.

He turned around and faced Zim, trying to look sad and defeated. "Okay, Zim, I'll go. But before I do..." He held out his hand. "How about a handshake?"

Zim raised an invisible eyebrow. "Handshake?"

"Yeah," Dib cleared his throat. "I want us to part on good terms and not as enemies, you know?"

Zim looked at him suspiciously, and Dib could fear some sweat rolling down his forehead. He really hoped that the alien wouldn't catch on to what he was planning to do. But Zim finally nodded with a grunt.

"Very well, Dib," he walked over to where Dib stood and reached to shake. "You were a worthy rival and an admirable adversary."

"Yeah, likewise," Dib muttered, his eyes still locked on the self-destruct device on Zim's other arm. His heart pounded as Zim got closer. It was now or never.

As soon as that gloved hand grabbed his, Dib swiftly flipped Zim onto his back and sat on his stomach, pinning him to the floor. The alien screamed all kinds of profanities and struggled to get up as Dib fiddled with the explosive device. The boy winched as he felt Zim scratch at his back with his other hand, but he focused only on the device and tried to find the switch to deactivate it.

At one point Zim painfully tugged at Dib's hair scythe, causing him to yelp in pain and let go of Zim's arm. Once the alien was freed, he shoved Dib off and pushed him against the T.V. The impact of Dib's head smashing into it caused the screen to crack. Disoriented and seriously hurt, Dib slumped to the ground and clamped a hand over his bleeding forehead. He groaned in pain as he felt blood slip through his fingers.

Breathing heavily and infuriated, Zim stepped onto Dib's chest and pinned him down. He leaned down to sneer in Dib's face. "You had the chance to leave, Dib," he hissed. "But now you'll die along with me." He prepared to push the button to self-destruct, glaring down at the human child.

But instead of fear, Dib felt righteous indignation flow through his veins. Gritting his teeth, he defiantly gripped Zim's boot on his chest. "So you got screwed over!" he spat. "SO WHAT?! Not everyone who does gives up, you know! There are people who keep moving forward and get on with their lives! I just...I just can't believe you're giving up this easily, Zim! You NEVER give up!"

Zim's glare faded and his antennas sank back sadly. He sighed and shook his head. "That was back when I believed I actually meant something. But now I know the truth: Zim is nothing. No one cares about me. I am alone in the universe." He closed his eyes and put the tip of his finger on the button. He was about to push it and end his miserable, lonely life when Dib's voice stopped him.

"God, you're so stupid, Zim."

Zim opened his eyes and looked down at the child in surprise. Even in the face of death, Dib still defied him and continued to fight. Zim was genuinely impressed.

"You whine and complain about being alone and nobody liking you," Dib continued, still glaring up at Zim, "but you just don't get it, do you? You and I are both alone, Zim. The only difference between us is that you had people who cared about you but you drove them all away. I'm alone because _nobody_ cares about me. But you don't see _me_ wallowing in self-pity and wanting to kill myself, do you?!"

He tightened his grip on Zim's boot, angry tears forming in his eyes. He could feel warm blood sliding down the side of his face, but soon that wouldn't matter anymore, right? Because it was the end for _both_ of them. "But if you think it's too hard, then go ahead! Push the button! We'll BOTH go out with a bang! You said it, yourself! I'm an insignificant human! No one will miss me after I'm gone! AM I RIGHT?! SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! PUSH IT!" Dib's voice cracked as he screamed, the tears now running freely down his cheeks.

For what seemed like an eternity, he lay there, waiting for the alien to push the button. But Zim only stared down at him, and he eventually put his arm down, though the self-destruct device was still there. Dib thought he saw a flicker of hope in Zim's ruby eyes for a moment. Could he had finally gotten through to him?

Zim lifted his leg off Dib's chest, allowing him to sit up. He sniffled and wiped his nose and eyes with the sleeve of his coat. He felt so embarrassed about crying in front of his former enemy. But at the same time, he was greatly relieved that Zim decided not to end _both_ of their lives.

"Dib," Zim spoke in an uncharacteristically soft tone, which really surprised Dib and he looked up at the alien with red puffy eyes. "Are you one of those people who...care about Zim?"

Before he would've denied it in a heartbeat, but he was just so relieved and happy to be alive that he smiled at Zim tearfully and nodded his head. "Yeah, Zim," he croaked, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed to admit it. "I do."

Zim frowned and tilted his head a bit. "But...I thought we were..."

Dib laughed and wiped his eyes again. "Yeah, I used to really hate your guts. But things are different now. And...as it crazy as it sounds...you're the closest thing to a friend I ever had. Sick, right?"

The corners of Zim's lips slowly lifted and he chuckled weakly. "Indeed." Finally the self-destruct device disappeared and Zim sat down on the floor in front of Dib, hugging his legs to his chest. The smile faded away and he buried his face in his knees. "What will I do now, Dib?" he mumbled.

Dib reached up to touch the wound on his head. It was still bleeding pretty badly. "Well, you can start by getting me a first-aid kit so that I don't pass out from blood loss."

 **This is perhaps my favorite chapter ever.**

 **Again, this will NOT be a ZADR fic. Just ZADF.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello.**

 **(Sighs)**

 **Well, I just learned that my Dad died from a massive heart attack.**

 **Yeah.**

 **I am devastated and so is my family. I won't post stories for a while. Probably won't be until next month when I come back.**

 **Please pray for me and my family. And thank you for all your support.**

 **God Bless.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you all so much for your amazing words of comfort and support. I'm still hurting but it hurts less than it did initially. Anyway, I'm continuing this story because my Dad would've wanted me to.**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"Hey, Gaz."

Dib spoke to his sister on his phone while he sat next to Zim on the couch. He had bandages wrapped around his forehead from the intense struggle hours earlier. The alien leaned back in the couch and stared numbly at the television, still feeling a little bit depressed.

"Listen," he said, "tell Dad I'm having a sleepover at Zim's house. No, it's not really a sleepover. I'm staying with him until morning. No, GIR can't go home just yet. Hey don't get mad at me! This just isn't a good-Hello? Gaz?" He sighed and put his phone back into his pocket. "She hung up on me. She isn't too happy."

"You do not have to babysit me," Zim croaked, his ruby eyes still on the T.V. "Zim will be fine by himself."

Dib raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "You're kidding, right? After all that drama earlier?"

Zim huffed and stubbornly turned his head away from Dib, hugging his legs close to his chest.

"Look, I'm just worried about you, Zim," Dib said in a softer tone. "You've had it pretty rough the last couple of days. And I just, you know, want to make sure that you're okay."

"Things will never be 'okay' again, Dib," Zim mumbled sadly, still looking away.

"Oh, come on, Zim," Dib groaned, rolling his eyes and leaning back in the couch. "Not this again."

"I am without a purpose now," Zim said, before he raised an eye ridge as he suddenly realized something. "Well, actually, I guess the only option left for me is to work in the fast food business. But that's not a life Zim is looking forward to."

Dib couldn't help but chuckle, remembering the aptitude test that he and his class took about a year ago. Dib's result determined that he would be a paranormal investigator, while Zim's indicated that he would become a fry cook. "I seriously doubt that those aptitude tests decide what our future careers will be, like what Miss Bitters said. You could be whatever you want, Zim."

This time Zim turned to look at him, frowning. "But even my PAK identifies me as a fry cook," he gestured to the device that was latched onto his back.

Dib rubbed his chin as he tried to think of a counter-argument . "Well, you just need to, you know, think outside the PAK."

Zim raised an eye ridge in confusion. "Eh? What does that even mean?"

"You need to think for yourself instead of letting a pak decide who and what you are."

Zim was still confused. "But my PAK _is_ me. It is my brain, and it contains all my knowledge, my personality, everything that makes Zim...well, Zim."

Dib sighed. Even after nearly two years of interacting with Zim, he still couldn't fully comprehend the Irken culture and anatomy. "Nevermind".

"But I think I understand what you are getting at," Zim said, still a bit gloomily. "And even if I do want to go beyond my programming and become something even better, Zim does not belong here or anywhere else."

"I dunno about that," Dib smiled a little. "I think you're adapting to this planet pretty well. You've learned more about Earth this week than you ever had in the last two years that you've been here."

Zim slowly nodded. "That is true..."

"And you don't have to destroy things, you know. You could use your brilliant mind and advanced technology for the benefit of mankind."

At this Zim tilted his head back and laughed boisterously. "HA! Mankind! Yeah, right. No offense, Dib, but your kind disgusts me to the core. I could care less about humans."

Dib rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, yeah, scratch that. I mean, to make Earth a better, cleaner planet. I know how much you like nature. You could, say...help clean up the air and waters. And the rainforests need more trees, so you could replant them. There's a million ways you can help improve this planet, Zim."

"Hmmmm..." Zim's antennas twitched as he took this into consideration, rubbing his chin. "I suppose you're right...only one problem. Zim does not create planets, let alone improve them. It is not in my Irken nature. We only conquer and destroy worlds. It has always been that way."

"Well, there's always a first time for everything," Dib said. "You could be the first Irken to defy the expectations of the Empire and become a creator instead of a destroyer. I mean, you don't want to destroy anymore, do you?"

The memory of the Morpho butterfly instantly popped in Zim's head. He felt a shiver go down his spine as he remembered the way the insect writhed and slowly died after having its wings ripped off. It was the first time Zim ever felt remorse for his actions as well as pity for the creatures that he ruthlessly destroyed. He wasn't sure if he could ever bring himself to doing something like ever again.

The guilty look on Zim's face said it all, and Dib gave Zim a friendly pat on the shoulder, which startled the alien. Zim jumped off the couch and took a few steps back, looking at the human suspiciously.

"What?" Dib shrugged, confused by Zim's strange behavior.

"What did you just do to me?" Zim asked, pointing at him.

"Nothing! I just gave you a pat on the shoulder!"

Zim tilted his head. "Why?"

"I-I dunno! It's just a friendly human gesture! You know, between friends!"

"Oh, I thought you were attacking me. Wait...did you just say 'friends'?"

"...What? No," Dib instantly denied. "No, I didn't."

"YOU LIE!" Zim suddenly shouted as he pointed again, back to his normal, unnecessarily loud self.

"Hey, hey! Don't yell like that! Sheesh!" Dib rubbed his pounding ear. He absolutely hated it whenever Zim would scream at the top of his...whatever the Irken counterpart to lungs were.

"But you DID use the term 'friends'!" Zim insisted. "I KNOW you did!"

"Yeah, well...what if I did?!" Dib said defensively, still rubbing his ear.

"So you consider us...friends?"

Dib looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No, not really. Earlier I said you're the _closest_ thing to a friend, but you're not _actually_ my friend. I mean, it's way too early for me to consider you a friend."

"So what are we now?"

"I dunno. But at least we're not enemies anymore." Dib leaned back in the cushion and rubbed his bandaged forehead. "Thank goodness for that," he said tiredly.

Zim was about to ask Dib something when all of the sudden the front door slammed opened. They both yelped in surprise and whipped their heads to the entrance.

Standing in the doorway was what seemed to be in a small kid in a poorly sewn fox costume, which had a pair of large googly eyes, a black button for a nose that was glued onto a snow cone paper cup, and a limp quilted tail.

Dib began to panic, standing in front of exposed alien so that the kid wouldn't see him anymore. "Uh, nice costume!" he chuckled nervously. "My, uh, my friend here is wearing one, too! On his way to a...a cosplay convention!"

"AH-HA!" Zim roughly nudged him. "There you go again! Calling me your friend even though you said I'm not! Will you make up your mind already?!"

Dib groaned and was about to call Zim an idiot when he noticed that alien was staring at the costumed kid as though he knew him. But that couldn't be, unless it was...

"GIR?" Zim said barely above a whisper, his antennas sinking back and his ruby eyes quivering.

The fox shook his head. "No, I'm not GIR!" The robot's high-pitched voice was heard, though.

Dib scratched his head. _What's GIR up to?_

"GIR, what are you doing?" Zim asked the robot.

GIR shook his head again and pointed to himself. "I'm not GIR! I'm Spleen!"

The human felt his heart break right in half as he realized what GIR was trying to do. He must've been working on that costume the entire time Dib was at Zim's house. Although Dib couldn't help but wonder where GIR found all the material to make his new disguise. Hopefully not from Gaz's room.

GIR shut the door behind him and approached the couch, standing before his master and smiling at him. "See? I never got eaten by those dogs! I'm okay! And I came back home!" The robot then hugged Zim's legs really tight. "Now we can play and eat waffles together FOREVER!"

Zim looked down at GIR in surprise before he closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "GIR, take off that ridiculous disguise," he calmly ordered his robot.

GIR looked up at with sad googly eyes. "But..." he squeaked, "if I'm Spleen...then you'll let me stay."

The alien flinched with guilt as he remembered the way he treated GIR after he and Dib found the remains of Spleen. He blamed GIR and beat him up even though it wasn't the robot's fault. And yet GIR came back anyway, begging his master to let him stay. Zim didn't care that the Tallest called GIR garbage. To him, GIR was undoubtably the best (and only) friend he ever had.

Zim reached down and gently pulled the mask back, revealing the robot's adorable, sad face. "GIR, you and I both know that Spleen is never coming back. And that wasn't your fault. It was wrong of me to accuse you like that, and I apologize."

GIR looked up at him with surprised cyan eyes. Master never apologized! Was he sick?

The alien then gave him a sad smile, his ruby eyes wet and glistening. "But I do want GIR back. There's no one else I'd rather have at my side." He patted the robot's hollow head, which clanked as he did. "That is, if he'll forgive me and come back."

The robot's eyes dripped with water and he started to sob. Then he leapt at Zim and latched onto him, babbling uncontrollably.

Normally, Zim would've yelled at GIR and pushed him off, but the alien was so happy to have his friend back and returned the hug, patting him on the back even.

Sitting next to them on the couch, Dib watched with a fond smile. He had a feeling that things would get even better from that point forward.

* * *

The birds chirped and the sun was so bright that Dib had to shelter his eyes as he walked out of the base. It was a beautiful morning.

Turning around, he saw Zim standing at the door with his human disguise on. "So, uh...will you be okay?" he asked the alien.

Zim shrugged. "I suppose. And Dib, I will take into consideration what you said. About me saving the planet."

Dib smiled and nodded. "Good. See you later then." He waved goodbye and headed for his own house.

Zim watched him leave for a moment before he closed the door. A small smile formed on his lips. Perhaps GIR wasn't the only friend he had.

* * *

Snoring loudly and drool dripping out of his mouth, Agent Spider slept his head resting on the wheel. He had spent the entire day watching Dib's house from inside his car, which was parked on the street across from it. But despite all the cups of coffee that he drank, he fell asleep right before Dib walked out and headed for Zim's base that night.

He woke up with a startle as he heard the ringing of a bike bell. Empty coffee cups fell off his lap as he sat up and looked around him in alert. He groaned and lightly pounded the dashboard as he realized that he had fallen asleep during the stakeout.

"Sh**!" he cursed under his breath. "Fell asleep. Stupid...!"

At that moment, he saw Dib walking on the sidewalk and up the steps that led to his house. He gritted his teeth as he watched the kid open the front door and step into his home.

"You're hiding something, Dib Membrane," he whispered as he narrowed his eyes, which were bloodshot. "And I _will_ find out what it is." He picked up a coffee cup and brought it to his lips, only to find that it was empty. "After I get more coffee, of course."

 **Geez, Spider's a creep, isn't he?**


	16. Chapter 16

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

It was now or never. He _really_ didn't want to do this, but it was for the best.

Dib took a deep breath before he clicked the link to contact Agent Darkbootie. The silhouette of the Swollen Eyeball member appeared on the screen on his laptop.

 _Agent Darkbootie here_ , he said in a deep creepy voice.

Dib couldn't help but gulp as he faced his mentor and fellow Swollen Eyeball member, forcing a smile. "H-Hey, Darkbootie. Um, can we talk?"

Darkbootie raised an eyebrow. _About_ _what?_

"Well, it's..." Dib nervously twiddled his thumbs, "it's about my membership. Look, I...I know that I need to get proof that Zim's an alien..."

Darkbootie seemed to lean in closer to the camera. _Mm-hmm. Go on._

Dib sighed and hung his head in shame. "But...I can't."

Darkbootie paused before he spoke calmly, _And why can't you?_

"Because Zim's not an alien. He never was. I was wrong."

There. He did it. He could never bring himself to expose Zim and let the authorities take him away, even though he knew it would cost him his membership to the Swollen Eyeball network. Some things are more important than fame and recognition.

To Dib's surprise, Darkbootie merely nodded. _There, now was that so hard?_

"Huh?" Dib looked at the screen confused.

 _You finally admitted that Zim is not an alien. Took you long enough._

Now Dib was even more confused. "What? You-You mean you didn't believe that I would ever get any proof at all? But you said that if I-"

 _The truth is, Agent Mothman, your membership was terminated months ago._

The world seemed to stop spinning the moment Dib heard those words. "...W-What...?"

Darkbootie's red eyes softened a bit. _You were becoming too obsessed with the whole Zim-Is-An-Alien thing to the point that it was making the rest of us Swollen Eyeball look back. But we played along and let you believe that you were still a member because you were the only kid in our group. We were planning to tell you once you turned thirteen, but we decided that enough was enough. Yet we also wanted to help you get over your obsession with Zim. And we figured that the only way to do that was to threaten to cancel your nonexistent membership unless you provided us with a piece of evidence, which we knew you would never get. And it obviously worked, because now you see that Zim was just a normal kid after all._

Dib slumped in his chair and let out a faint breath of disbelief. He felt like the biggest fool on the planet. He looked at the man with eyes full of hurt. "So it was all a trick? You lied to me?"

 _Listen, Agent Mothman-_

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dib snapped. "I thought I wasn't a member anymore? So why don't you just call me by my real name instead of Agent Mothman?"

 _Dib, look...we just-_

No. He wouldn't hear any of it. "You know," he interrupted Darkbootie, "I really believed that I belonged with you guys. I thought you...you know...believed me." He leaned forward and pressed his finger against the screen. "But _no_...you're just like everyone else in the outside world. You think I'm just a crazy kid who's...who's crazy and stuff!"

Darkbootie shook his head. _No, we don't think you're crazy. You just...have an unhealthy obsession with aliens. We did this for your own good._

Dib wasn't buying it. "No. You just admitted that you wanted to get rid of me because I was embarrassing you. I may be 'crazy', but I'm not stupid. Well, _fine_. You won't have to worry about hearing from _me_ anymore."

And with that, Dib slammed his laptop shut and yanked the plug out of the outlet before he plopped himself onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. Even though he tried to fight it, he could feel the angry tears coming.

Even though he was prepared to give up the membership, it hurt to know that even the Swollen Eyeball didn't want him in their social group. They only kept him because they felt sorry for him, not because he was a valued member. He didn't think it was possible, but he now felt even more alone than ever.

He huffed as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Whatever. He needed to go out for a while.

* * *

After asking his dad for his weekly allowance, Dib got on his bike and headed to the mall. But what he didn't know was that a black Jaguar car was following close behind...

* * *

He recently saw a commercial announcing the release of the _Mysterious Mysteries_ complete season DVD set. He was about to walk into the Rogue Entertainment store to purchase his desired item when he noticed the store that was directly across from it.

The Global Map was full of multicultural merchandise and accessaries from various parts of the world. It was one of the most popular stores in the mall, and even Dib felt tempted to go in there.

He glanced back and forth between the two stores. He could spend his allowance money on the DVD's or he could check out what Global Map had to offer him.

He shrugged his shoulders as he finally made his decision. "Eh, why not?"

...

"Welcome to the Global Map!" a young woman with blue hair greeted him with a friendly smile from behind the counter.

His nostrils breathed in the sweet aroma vanilla-scented candles as he stepped into the store. There was so much neat stuff that was imported from different counties. They even sold shrunken heads (which was actually pretty gross).

As he looked at the beautiful paintings, dreamcatchers, and masks on the walls, he came across several framed butterfly displays. One of them contained a single butterfly: the blue Morpho, his favorite. He carefully picked it off the wall and studied it. As he tilted the frame, the magnificent blue wings reflected the lights from the ceilings. It was absolutely stunning.

He instantly knew what he wanted to buy.

* * *

"What the-? WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!"

To Dib's shock and dismay, the front tire of his bike had completely flattened. Either he hit a nail somewhere on the way to the mall or someone did it deliberately. Either way, he was without a ride now.

Groaning and kicking his bike in frustration, he reached for the phone in his pocket to call his Dad. Hopefully the he wasn't too busy at work. But before he could push the button to call the professor, a black Jaguar suddently pulled up next to the sidewalk. The window of the driver's side rolled down, and the government man from before was smiling at him.

"Hey, Dib!" he waved at the kid. "Remember me?"

"Uh, y-yeah," Dib nervously said. "Spider, was it?"

The government agent nodded. "That's right. Looks like you have a flat tire."

"Oh, this?" Dib chuckled weakly. "This is nothing. I can just call my Dad and have him pick me up."

"I have a better idea," Spider leaned out of the window and gestured to the back of his car. "Why don't you put your bike in the trunk and I'll give you a ride home?"

"No thanks!" Dib immediately declined. "I'm good! I'm not supposed to ride with strangers, anyway."

"That is true," Spider said with a nod. "But you know you can trust _me_ , because I work for the government."

"Um," Dib scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "that doesn't make much of a difference actually. If anything it makes me trust you even _less_."

Spider raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought everyone trusted the government," he mumbled to himself as he rubbed his chin. He cleared his throat and spoke in a louder voice. "Well, this is one government agent you can trust, Dib. I just want to make sure that you get home safely. After all, you're just a kid."

Dib knew better than to get into the car with Spider, but he knew that the government agent wouldn't leave him alone unless he did. Reluctantly he picked up his bike and headed toward the trunk, which opened up for him.

As Spider watched him through the rear view mirror, he snickered and opened his glove compartment, placing a screwdriver inside.

"Oh, I am so clever," he said softly to himself as he slammed the latch shut and locking it.

* * *

Dib looked out his window as they passed another unfamiliar neighborhood. They should've arrived at his house ten minutes ago. Was he being kidnapped?

He nervously glanced over at Spider. "Um, we missed the turn, you know."

Spider only nodded and focused on the road before him. "Oh, I know. I just thought we'd take a longer route."

"Why?"

"I just want to talk to you," Spider smirked and playfully nudged him in the arm. "You know, man to man."

Even though he knew what Spider wanted to talk to him about, Dib pretended to be oblivious. "Uh, about what?"

Spider reached for the coffee in his cup holder and took a nice long sip before he spoke again. "You know, Dib, I was just like you when I was your age. I was obsessed with the paranormal, and all the other kids thought I was crazy. Oh, I can still feel the wedgies and purple nurples. But all that changed after I graduated from college and was hired by the government. Instead of being scorned and made fun of, I was respected by everyone. And I have seen things that no ordinary paranormal investigator ever could. Uncovering the unknown."

They came to a stop light, and the mood slowly changed as the smile on Spider's face dropped and he looked at Dib with a grim expression. "But I also learned a valuable lesson while on the job."

Dib nervously backed away from him a little. "And what's that?"

"That some things are better _left_ unknown. There are secrets out there that society wouldn't be able to handle. You know how crazy people can get when they are scared out of their minds. You recall the _World Of The Wars_ incident in 1938?"

"Hmmm...oh, yeah!" Dib nodded. "Everyone thought we were having an alien invasion when it was just a radio drama narrated by...what's his name...oh, Orson Welles. Boy, did they all freak out. But it was just a radio show, right? It wasn't real."

The look on Spider's face said otherwise.

Dib's eyes widened in shock as realization kicked in. "Wait...so...there really _was_ an invasion?"

"The whole radio show thing was just a cover-up," Spider said. "And believe it or not, t wasn't the first time the Martians invaded our planet. The point is, Dib, there was a mass panic, and had the government not interfered, it would've spread like wildfire across the entire country. America would've fallen apart, leaving us vulnerable to our foreign enemies, and World War II would've belonged to Hitler."

"I...I had no idea," Dib softly said.

"Of course you didn't. That was the whole point of the cover-up. I work for the government, Dib. Everything I do, I do it in the best interest of the American people. It's my job to protect humanity." Spider looked over at Dib and narrowed his eyes from behind his dark sunglasses. "And that's why I gonna have to ask you to turn in the alien."

Dib's heart skipped a beat and he felt sweat quickly forming on his forehead. He instinctively clutched the framed butterfly in his hands.

 _So he knows about Zim. Great..._

Dib tried to put on a straight face. "Alien...?"

Spider removed his sunglasses, revealing his cold, piercing blue eyes. "Yes, Dib. The alien. Or 'Zim' as you call him."

The boy frantically shook his head. "N-No! I already told you, Zim's not an alien! He's just a normal kid with a skin condition!"

Spider only scoffed. "Oh, really? And I suppose that he got plastic surgery to remove his nose and ears?" he sarcastically asked the kid.

"Um...yeah! Yeah, he did!" Dib lied, even though he knew it sounded completely absurd. "Look, Zim is normal like you and me! And I'm not hiding any aliens! So you will please just leave us alone?!"

Shaking his head and sighing in exasperation, Spider pressed a button on the wheel that said AUTOPILOT. As the car continued to drive, the government man reached over and suddenly grabbed Dib's cheeks, pinching them to the point that his nails dug into his skin. Dib whimpered as Spider glared at him with eyes full of rage.

"I tried being nice, Dib," Spider hissed, "but I guess we're gonna have to do things the hard way. I know you're trying to keep that alien all to yourself so that you can become famous. But believe me when I tell you that exposing Zim to the public will _destroy_ our country! There will be widespread panic! Cities will burn! People will eat each other alive! Stock markets will crash! You cannot even _fathom_ the extent of the damage that you will unintentionally cause!"

As Spider continued to lecture, Dib glanced to the side and his brown eyes widened in horror as he saw something on the road before them. "Um, Spider?"

Spider only dugs his nails even deeper into Dib's cheeks and gave his large head a shake. "Don't interrupt me! Now, you will tell me-"

"DUCKS!" Dib screamed and pointed at the road.

Spider looked up and gasped as he saw a VERY long line of ducklings following their mother across the road. Once he let go of Dib to grab the wheel, the boy used the opportunity to open his door and leap out of the car. He landed safely (though roughly) on a lawn and watched as the car swerved out of control, then it dramatically flipped over the ducks, missing them by a few inches. And in slow motion, too, like in those action movies.

Dib clamped a hand over his mouth as the car crashed and slid across the pavement a bit before it came to a complete stop. The vehicle was a complete wreck, and smoke started to come out of the broken windows.

A few people who had seen the crash immediately started dialing 9-1-1, while Dib just stood there in complete shock, his legs wobbling and his stomach churning.

"Oh, crap."

 **No, Spider isn't dead...unfortunately. :/**


	17. Chapter 17

**So twice now a Monarch butterfly has appeared out of nowhere and fluttered around in front of me. I really believe that it's my Dad saying hi to me. :,)**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"Now you remember your mission, GIR?"

The robot nodded as he slipped into his old green dog disguise. "Yep!"

Zim walked him to the front door and opened it. "And no snack stops. Come straight home. Got it?"

GIR's red orbs shined through the bug eyes of the costume and he saluted the Irken. "Yes, Sir!" Then he gave him an adorable smile, his tongue sticking out in a playful manner. "I'll be right back!" He started down the steps of the porch.

"And GIR?"

He stopped and looked back at his master, who was smiling warmly at him.

"It's good to have you back," he softly said.

GIR's smile widened even more and he waved at Zim as he happily skipped to his destination, humming a merry tune.

Zim fondly watched him leave for a few moments before he closed the door and headed for the kitchen. He was hungry and in the mood for some delicious blackberries. But as he walked into the kitchen, he noticed that the refrigerator doors were open, behind which a short figure was digging around for some food, slurping and burping as he ate.

Zim scowled and looked on in annoyance as an empty Poop can rolled to his feet. "GIR! What have I told you about-?!"

Wait a minute. He just saw GIR leave about a minute ago. If that wasn't GIR, then who...?

"Who are you?!" Zim demanded as he marched over to the intruder. "Identify yourself, thief!"

He slammed the doors shut and immediately recoiled in surprise and disgust. "AUGH! _YOU?!_ "

* * *

As soon as he got home, he ran upstairs and locked himself in his room. Crawling onto his bed and hugging his knees close to his chest, Dib tried to control his insteady breathing and shaking.

He really hoped that he hadn't just witnessed the death of a government agent. If the government found out about his involvement in it, there would surely be consequences in store for him and his family.

Man, Zim owed him big time for this.

He glanced over at the butterfly frame that rested on his drawer and picked it up. He laid down on the bed and raised the frame over his head, tilting it to watch the butterfly's wings reflect the lights in his bedroom. A warm feeling rose in his chest as he continued to fiddle with the butterfly, and he felt a little bit better. Just a little.

The doorbell ringing made him jump nearly ten feet off the bed and he almost dropped the frame. His heart began to pound like crazy and he instinctively his under the covers.

 _They KNOW! They're after me! I am SO dead!_

He heard the front door opening downstairs and his father taking to someone. Feeling even more anxious, he gnashed his teeth and gripped the sheets tightly.

"Son!" Membrane called out to him from the living room. "Someone is here to see you!"

Dib gulped and peeked his head out of the covers. "Y-Yeah, okay, Dad! Be there in a minute!" _I knew it! I'm dead! Well, I'd better get this over with._

He reluctantly got out of bed and slowly made his way downstairs. Every step he made felt like a step to the gallows. He expected to see a government man or the police standing at the front door waiting for him.

But to his surprise (and great relief), GIR was standing there in his green dog disguise, licking a rather large lollipop that was about the size of his head. He looked at Dib with blank bug eyes and smiled stupidly at him.

"Hi, Mary!" GIR squealed happily.

"Um, hey, GIR," Dib walked over to him and patted him on the head. "How's it going?"

"Good!" GIR resumed his licking, saying nothing else. Just continued to lick and lick.

Dib coughed and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "So, uh, what are you doing here?"

GIR held up the slobbery candy out to him. "Eating a lollipop! Wanna lick?"

"Uh, no, no thanks," Dib politely declined, backing away from the disgusting dripping lollipop that was being offered to him. "What I mean is, why are you here? Did Zim send you or something?"

The robot stopped licking as something clicked in his head. "Oh yyyyeeeeaaaahhh..." The top of his head opened up and a small digital camera popped out. He caught it and handed it to Dib. "Master wanted me to return this to you!"

Dib's brown eyes widened as he recognized the camera in GIR's hand. "He... _wanted_ me to have this?"

GIR nodded his head and gave Dib the camera. "Uh-huh! Well, gotta go! Byyyyyeee!" The robot dog waved at him as he sprinted down the sidewalk.

Dib closed the door and looked at the camera in his hand. He thought Zim had destroyed this after that one time in the boy's bathroom.

Oh, that horrible, horrible time...

* * *

 **Flashback...Four Months Ago...**

"Stupid, annoying Dib-worm...!" Zim grumbled and cursed under his breath as he wringed his wig out, sour milk spilling into the toilet.

Earlier in the cafeteria, the huge-headed human child decided to torment him by throwing a carton of outdated milk at him. Now he smelled of human vomit.

"When I get my hands on that vile human...!" His eye started to twitch, but not from anger. "Ow! Stupid itchy lenses!" He hissed in pain as he removed the sticky lenses from his ruby eyeballs.

 _Click._

Zim's antennas went straight up at the sound of a camera clicking. He quickly looked up and squealed in surprise when he saw Dib looking down at him from the top of the stall, holding a digital camera. The human had just taken a picture of him exposed!

Dib smirked triumphantly. "HA! I got you now, Zim!" he gloated, pointing to the camera in his hand. He quickly let go of the wall and headed for the exit, laughing as he did. But unfortunately the Irken was very fast and pinned him to the ground just before he could reach the door. They rolled around and wrestled with each other, with a lot of punching, kicking, and even biting.

"Uh! Give! Me! That! Camera! Stink! Beast!" Zim grunted.

"Never!" Dib yelled, struggling to keep Zim's claws from scratching his face.

The agrivated alien finally unleashed his spider legs and elevated himself above the floor. Using one of the robotic legs, he knocked the camera out of Dib's hand. He then lowered himself to grab Dib by the collar of his trench coat and lifted him up.

He narrowed his eyes and lowered his antennas in anger. "You will pay for this dearly, Dib," he hissed. "Oh, you will pay."

Dib looked up at him nervously. "What are you going to do?"

Zim smiled evilly and carried the boy to one of the stalls. Dib stared on in horror as he was slowly lowered into a particularly smelly toilet. The contents hadn't even been flushed yet.

"No! Zim! Wait!" He desperately scratched at the walls of the stall. "You can't do this! _WILLY_ USED THIS TOILET LAST!"

Zim only chuckled darkly. "I know, Dib. I know..."

 _Splash!_

 ** _"NNNNNNAAAAAAAOOOOOOO...!"_**

* * *

Dib shuddered at the horrific memory before getting a grip of himself. Why would Zim willingly return the camera that had the picture of him without his disguise? Maybe he had already deleted it?

Curiously he scrolled through the pictures that were stored in the device, and he was shocked to see that very same photo still in there. Zim never deleted it after all.

Was this some kind of test? Maybe Zim wanted to see if Dib truly was his friend. Well, they weren't exactly friends yet, but it was the first step. And trust is an important factor in any relationship.

Dib smiled to himself, feeling rather honored that Zim trusted him enough with this crucial piece of evidence. And he was right to place his trust in him, as Dib pushed the delete button, and the picture was gone forever.

Now he had to warn the alien about a certain obsessed and crazy paranormal investigator who was probably still alive.

* * *

"You're alive?!" Zim couldn't believe his eyes!

Standing before him with his tunic covered with crumbs and soda was the fat, short Irken Invader Skoodge. He gave Zim a friendly smile and waved his free hand, since he was holding a bag of Parmesan cheese with the other. "Hiya, Zim! How you been?"

"But how can this be?!" Zim pointed a finger at him. "I thought the Hogulus killed you back on Hobo 13!"

Skoodge shrugged. "Yeeeeah, but I'm okay now."

"What are you doing here, Skoodge?!" Zim spat.

"Since I conquered Blorch, I got nothing better to do," the fat Irken explained as he grabbed a handful of cheese and stuffed it in his mouth. "So I've been living in your basement for the past three months."

Zim's ruby eyes bulged out. " ** _Three months?!_** COMPUTER! Why haven't you informed me of Skoodge's presence?!"

 ** _Huh? Oh, yeah. I forgot._**

Zim's eye twitched, and this time from anger. "I hate you, Computer." He slapped the bag of cheese out of Skoodge's hands. "Get out of my base, Skoodge! NOW!"

"Awww, c'mon, Zim!" Skoodge looked at Zim with pleading puppy dog eyes. "Let me stay! I'll help you conquer Earth!" He had a hopeful grin on his face.

Zim sighed and shook his head. "I have no desire in conquering Earth anymore."

Skoodge stared at him dumbfounded. Invader Zim? Not wanting to invade anymore?! "Wha-Whaaaaa?! Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Zim?"

"I _am_ the real Zim," the ex-invader rolled his eyes. "And I'm not an invader anymore...not that I ever was."

The fat Irken tilted his head. "Huh?"

* * *

"Oh man...You mean the Tallest _lied_ to you?" Skoodge followed Zim into his lab.

"That's right," Zim mumbled sadly as he sat down in his comfy chair. "I am exiled to this planet. I can never return to Irk. But I might as well make the best of it and spend the rest of my wasted life making Earth a cleaner planet to live on."

"Great idea!" Skoodge exclaimed. "I can help you with that!"

Zim scoffed in amusement. "You? Help Zim? HA! What do _you_ know about nature? You were created and raised on a planet made entirely out of computers and technology."

"Yeah, but...so were _you_ ," Skoodge pointed out.

"YOU'RE LYING!" Zim screamed as he pointed at Skoodge, startling the fat Irken. "Eh, I mean, yes, but I have learned much about Earth and its creatures during my entire stay here. This is nothing like Blorch or Irk!"

Skoodge wasn't discouraged at all. If anything, it made him even more determined. "No problem! I can learn! It's what we were made for, after all! To learn and blend in!"

"Hmmph." Zim reached for the torn collar that used to belong to Spleen and gingerly held it. The painful memory of the fox pricked his fluid-pumping organ. "It's not as easy as you think," he softly said.

Skoodge noticed the way Zim fondly looked at the collar. He had known the Irken for years, and he had never seen any emotion other than anger or fear in those ruby eyes. Nor had he ever heard Zim speak in such a soft, quiet tone, when 99 percent of the time he was always yelling or screaming. "Uh, Zim? You okay?"

Zim looked directly over at Skoodge and frowned. "If you wish to stay with me, Skoodge, you must turn you back on the Irken Empire and dedicate your life to helping me clean and rebuild this planet."

Skoodge seemed a bit uneasy and unsure. "You mean...I have to _leave_ the Empire? But I-"

"Don't tell me you're still loyal to them after they tried to kill you?"

"Well, I...I don't know..."

"Face reality, Skoodge: they hate you. They think you're a loser, like me."

"What?!" Skoodge yelled, offended by Zim's remark. "I am NOT a loser!"

Zim's eyes seemed to soften a bit as he gestured to the mirror on the wall. "Take a good look in the mirror, Skoodge."

Skoodge was confused, but complied with Zim's request anyway, standing in front of Zim's mirror. At first, all he could see was Invader Skoodge, the great Irken who conquered Blorch, the poster boy for galactic conquest. He smiled proudly at his reflection, humming approvingly.

But the longer he looked, the more he began to see the flaws that he tried to overlook or pretend not notice for years. He was short. And fat. And...ugly. The Tallest's harsh words echoed in his mind.

...

 _"Oh, now that's just sad," Tallest Red shook his head in disappointment._

 _"Could you get any_ shorter _?!" Tallest Purple harshly shouted._

 _Skoodge looked up at them apologetically. He really did his best to prevent himself from getting any shorter._

 _..._

 _"Man, you're ugly!" Purple yelled, looking at Skoodge with eyes full of disgust._

 _Those words hurt Skoodge, but he hid that hurt with a smile and even added, "And short."_

 _..._

"Wow..." Skoodge whispered, eyes brimming with tears. "You're right, Zim. They really _do_ hate me. I really _am_ a loser."

In his reflection, he could see Zim approach him from behind and placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. There was pity in his eyes instead of the usual hateful glares that he'd get from everyone else on Irk. "Yes, Skoodge," he nodded. "You are a loser."

Skoodge pouted, lowering his brow and pressing his lips together. "Gee, thanks," he mumbled.

"But only because the Irken Empire molded you that way," Zim said, giving Skoodge a comforting squeeze. "But Zim shall improve your being. With my guidance, you will learn to think, as Dib would put it, outside the pak."

Skoodge turned his head back at Zim, a confused look on his face. "Think outside the pak? What does _that_ mean?"

Before Zim could explain it to him, GIR's loud voice echoed in the lab. "I'M BAAAAACK!"

They both turned to see the robot standing in the elevator, a large bundle of snacks in his hands. "And I brought snacks!" he happily announced.

Skoodge's eyes enlarged and his mouth started to drool as he stared at all that food. "Ooooh! Snacks!" He ran to grab some of the snacks from GIR, while Zim looked on disapprovingly.

"GIR, I said no snack stops!" he scolded the robot. "And haven't you eaten enough food from out of my refrigerator, Skoodge?!"

The fat Irken ignored him and continued to stuff his mouth with caramel truffles. It sickened Zim just to watch him eat, strings of caramel getting stuck in his teeth as he chewed.

Zim sighed and shook his head. Molding Skoodge was going to be a lot harder than it looked.

 **So Skoodge is in the story now! :D**


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm not updating as much because I'm trying to hurry up and finish my TMNT stories before the fandom sorta dies.**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"Uh, Zim? You sure there isn't an easier way to clean up the planet?"

"Silence! And put your back into it, Skoodge!"

Skoodge, now wearing a black afro wig and blue human eye lenses, groaned as he picked up another piece of trash with his stick and stuffed it into his bag. For the past two hours, the two Irkens had been picking up trash alongside the highway. When he agreed to help Zim, he didn't think that it would be this much work. The sun was beating down on him and he was starting to get really hungry.

"Hey, Zim," he called out to the other Irken, "can we take a break?"

Zim scoffed as he picked up a soda can. "Break? HA! Irkens don't take breaks while they're on a mission! We will not rest until _every single_ piece of trash has been picked up!"

Just then a truck zoomed past them and another empty soda can was tossed out of the driver's window and onto the grass. Zim growled in annoyance and picked it up with his hand.

"FILTHY HUMANS!" he screamed as he crushed the can.

"Zim, at this rate, we'll be here all day," Skoodge whined. "I'm getting hungry."

"Well then, if you're so hungry, why don't you just eat the trash!" Zim snapped, of course he didn't really mean it. He was just tired of hearing Skoodge's constant whining.

Skoodge on the other, he eyed a small wrapping paper on the ground and picked it up with his fingers. Without hesitation, he put it in his mouth and chewed on it for a couple of seconds before swallowing it.

"Mmm...not bad."

He picked up another piece of trash and ate it. And then he ate another. And another.

Zim noticed him doing it and stared at him weird. "Eh...I was being sarcastic, but...oh, well." He shrugged and went back to cleaning up the grass when another car passed by and a slushy cup was thrown at his head.

His eye twitched in anger as red liquid dripped from his now ruined wig. "You humans are _so_ lucky that I do not wish to conquer your planet anymore," he venomously whispered.

* * *

"I've never seen so many trees in my life," Skoodge whispered in awe as he looked up at the forest that surrounded him.

Zim spotted another plastic bag that was tangled up in a bush and removed it. "Oh course, you haven't," he grumbled. "Unfortunately, the humans don't appreciate what they have and they ruin their planet through deforestation and pollution."

The fat Irken noticed a robin feeding her young in a nest high above in him. The little babies were so adorable and fluffy it made him want to die. "Awwwwww," he whispered, suddenly getting a warm feeling inside.

He was starting to see why Zim chose not to destroy this planet and turn it into another parking lot or food court for the Irken Empire. After all, where would those cute little birdies live?

A mouse scurried past his foot and it surprised him, but not as much as when a falcon all of a swooped down and snatched the little creature with its claws. Skoodge watched in horror as it flew to the highest branch of a tree and proceeded to rip the mouse's insides out with its beak.

Okay, so not all Earth birds are cute and fluffy.

His stomach rumbled as he felt the hunger returning. "Oh, man, I'm hungry."

"Again?" Zim looked back at him in annoyance. "All that trash you ate earlier did not satisfy you?"

Skoodge sadly shook his head. "I need actual, _real_ food, Zim. You know, like a pretzel or some nachos."

Zim rolled his eyes and shook his head. "'Real' food. _Pffft!_ Snacks do not count as 'real' food, Skoodge."

The fat Irken looked at him as though he was completely out of his gourd. "But that's all we've ever eaten. Snacks are necessary in our diet. We can't _live_ without snacks, Zim!"

The smaller Irken only smirked, amused by Skoodge's naivety. It wasn't his fault, though. After all, the empire made him into what he was, and for a long time, Zim, himself, used to be just as blind and pathetic as the fat Irken.

"Come with me, Skoodge," he said. "There's something I must show you."

...

"What the heck are those?" Skoodge pointed to the blackberries in the bushes which Zim brought him to see.

"They are called blackberries," Zim explained as he picked one off and held it in his palm. "They are delicious _and_ nutritious. Here." He offered it to Skoodge. "Try one."

Skoodge looked a bit unsure. "Uh...I dunno. I mean, I don't want to eat something that just, you know, grows outside. What if it's full of bacteria and-"

"Oh, shut up and eat it already!" Zim snapped, shoving the berry into Skoodge's face. "It won't kill you!"

Pursing his lips together, Skoodge reluctantly took the berry and stared at it for a few moments before he finally put it on his tongue. Very slowly with scrunched up eyes, he chewed on it.

Then his eyes popped open in awe as the sweet juice made his taste buds go crazy. "Oh...my...gosh. I _LOVE_ THESE!" Shoving Zim aside, he swiftly picked a bunch of berries and shoved them into his mouth, practically inhaling them. He picked and ate until the bush was completely bare of blackberries.

"More!" Skoodge laughed like a madman as his mouth drooled like crazy. "I gotta have MORE!" He then spotted another bush that had holly berries. Hypnotized by the bright red color, he ran over to pick them. He put a handful into his mouth and swallowed.

"Skoodge, wait!" Zim shouted. "Those are hollies! They are poisonous!"

Skoodge whipped his head around, eyes full of fear. "Poison?" he said muffled. Almost instantly his face became pale and his squeedly-spooch gurgled. He bent over and puked right there on the spot.

* * *

It was now late in the afternoon and the two were picking up as much trash as they could on the beach. Skoodge practically dragged his stick and bag across the sand, feeling very tired and sick. He was beginning to regret ever agreeing to help Zim.

A large slobbery dog suddenly appeared out of nowhere and clamped its jaws down on the side of Skoodge's trash bag.

"Hey!" Skoodge grunted as he tried to pull the bag away. "Let go! Let-!"

The bag tore apart and all of the trash came flying out, scattering everywhere. Some of the cans bounced off to where the tide stopped.

"Skoodge!" Zim yelled. "Grab those cans before they get washed away!"

The fat Irken hurried over to the cans and started to pick them up when the waters splashed over his hands and feet. His skin started to burn and he screamed shrilly in pain. He fell on his back wiggling and writhing, and every time the tide came in, it'd burn him even more.

Zim sprinted over to where he lay and pulled him away before the waters could reach him again. Panting and sobbing, Skoodge sat up and pulled his gloves off, reavealing his severely blistered green skin.

"Oh, yeah," Zim winced at the sight. "Should've warned you about the water."

Now Skoodge had finally had enough. "THAT'S IT!" he screamed. He stood back up and kicked the sand in anger before stomping off.

"Where are you going?!" Zim called after him.

"Home!" Skoodge yelled.

"But we're not done yet!"

"Well, I am! I'm done with this planet! I'm going back to Irk!"

Zim ran around him and blocked his path, crossing his arms and glaring at him. "Back to Irk? You can't be serious."

"Oh, I'm serious!" Skoodge glared back and crossed his arms as well.

"Why?" Zim sneered. "So that the Tallest could shoot you through a cannon again, not caring whether you live or die?"

This made Skoodge's eyes water and he bit his lower lip. "Yeah, well...the humans don't care that much about us, either! At least we'd be with our own kind back on Irk! We don't belong here!"

"As we do not belong anywhere!" Zim argued. "Don't you get it?! We are the outcasts of the universe! Like it or not, we are stuck here! And so we have to make the best of it!"

"No!" Skoodge pushed past Zim and continued on his way. "I'm not staying on this planet anymore!"

Just then a jeep sped right past them, almost hitting Skoodge, who yelped and jumped out of the way in time. They could hear one of the humans yell, "Hurry! The baby's over there!"

Zim and Skoodge looked at each other. "Baby?" they said in unison. Out of curiosity, they ran after the jeep.

* * *

A marine animal rescue team gathered around a baby whale that had been washed ashore. They continued to splash water over his skin to keep it cool and moist. But they were puzzled by the way the animal kept heaving and moaning, like he was sick or hurting.

"What's wrong with him?" a young woman with blonde hair picked up another bucket of water and splashed it on the whale. "Why is he making those sounds?"

"I think I know," a man with dark sunglasses sadly mumbled, stroking the whale's beak. "I really hope I'm wrong, though."

"Move aside!"

The whole group turned to see two strange green boys approaching. The shorter of the two put on a pair of special goggles and walked over to the whale. He slowly walked around the creature, inspecting his insides with his X-ray vision.

"Hmmmm..." Zim rubbed his chin. "It appears this creature has swallowed something that is damaging his digestive system."

"Oh, god," another woman gasped. "You think he swallowed plastic?"

"Only one way to find out." Zim walked to the front of the whale and patted his beak. "Open up, young marine animal."

The whale opened his mouth and Zim stepped inside. The rescue team began to protest and urged him to come out, including Skoodge.

"Zim!" Skoodge peeked his head inside and called after his friend. "What are you doing?! Get outta there!"

"Skoodge," Zim called back from inside the whale, "either you shut up or help me!"

The fat Irken groaned and reluctantly stepped inside the whale's mouth. His face scrunched up as he smelled the dead fish in the creature's breath. "Ugh...disgusting!"

The rescue team stood by and listened to the boys' voices that echoed in the whale's stomach. They couldn't believe they let two kids enter a live whale. Hopefully nothing bad would happen or else they'd have to answer to their parents.

 _"Oh, my...! What am I looking at here?! The horror!"_

 _"Quit your whining!"_

 _"Ewwwwww! I can't believe people eat this stuff!"_

 _"Here! Take these plastic bags!"_

 _"I think I'm gonna throw up again..."_

 _"NOT IN HERE! THINK OF THE WHALE!"_

After five minutes of digging through the whale's intestines, the two finally emerged with piles of plastic grocery bags in their arms. They were covered in pinkish goo from head to toe and they smelled like rotten fish, the flies already swarming about them.

But as soon as they stepped out of the whale with the bags, the team surrounded and congratulated them, patting them on the back and shaking their hands.

"Great job, boys!"

"We can't thank you enough!"

"You did it!"

The blonde woman knelt down on one knee and took Skoodge's hands, smiling at him warmly. "Thank you," she whispered as she squeezed his tiny hands. "You two are heroes."

Hearing those words caused Skoodge's eyes to burn with tears and his chest to feel warm. Him? A hero? No one had ever called him that before, no matter how many planets he conquered in the name of the Empire. His Tallest never thanked him either for all of his services.

He turned and saw that the baby whale was looking directly at him with his large black eyes. There was gratitude in them, and Skoodge found himself smiling.

* * *

It was now nighttime and the crickets chirped merrily as Zim and Skoodge walked down the sidewalk together. The two munched on blackberries that they picked in the forest earlier, and Skoodge watched in awe as the fireflies flashed their bright orange lights in the dark.

"You know," Skoodge softly said, "this planet ain't half bad."

Zim smiled to himself and nodded. "Indeed."

"I think I'll stay here a bit longer," Skoodge lifted a finger and let a firefly rest on it. "Sure keeping it clean is a lot of work, but...it's worth the effort. At least _I_ think so."

"As do I, Skoodge," Zim agreed.

"And you know something? You said the humans don't care about the planet. But those people on the beach, they seemed to care an awful lot."

Zim frowned and reflected on how hard those humans worked to keep the baby whale alive and eventually push it back into the ocean. They did seem to care, which was rare in this lazy, canine-devouring-canine society. Perhaps there was still hope for humanity.

Perhaps.

 **The whale story was inspired by a heartbreaking clip that my science professor showed us a couple of years back. Unfortunately, that baby whale was not as fortunate. :,(**


	19. Chapter 19

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"So you're turning twelve in three days," Professor Membrane said cheerfully as he poured coffee into a cup. "Are you excited?"

Dib looked up from his cereal bowl and at his father in confusion. "Uh, actually, Dad, I'm turning thirteen."

Membrane raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I was certain that you were eleven years old."

"Trust me, he's twelve," Gaz mumbled before she ate another spoonful of her cereal.

"Oh. Well, anyhow, is there a particular place you'd like to have your birthday party at?"

Dib rolled his eyes and shook his head. He loved his Dad, but sometimes he just didn't get it. "Dad, I don't want a birthday party, because nobody I invite ever comes."

"Well, what about that foreign friend of yours?" Membrane suggested.

"You mean Zim? I...don't think he would come. Parties aren't really his thing."

"Well, did you ever ask him?"

"Uh, no."

"Then ask him! You never know! He just might say yes!"

"I seriously doubt it, Dad. I wouldn't bother."

"You do realize he's gonna send an invitation to Zim's house anyway?" Gaz quietly told him.

Dib sighed and rested his chin on his hand. "Yeah, I know." But he couldn't help but wonder, would Zim go to his birthday party? They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't enemies either. He knew that GIR would definitely attend the party, as the energetic robot loved to have fun. But with Zim, it was hard to tell. However, considering how much Zim had changed in the last week, it probably wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

"Uh, Dad? Could we just hold the party here at our house?" Dib asked.

"Of course!" Membrane smiled widely behind his collar. "I'll even set up a pool in the back-"

"NO!" Dib exclaimed, earning a confused look from his father. "I-I mean, that won't be necessary, Dad. Zim doesn't like to swim. He hates to get wet."

* * *

"What is this place...?" Skoodge looked up in both awe and horror at the fish that swam over his head. "We're... _underwater!_ "

Zim had decided to take Skoodge to the public aquarium to teach him a little bit about the aquatic life on Earth. Of course, Zim didn't mention that the aquarium included an underwater tunnel in which you could see the marine animals and fish swim around you. Skoodge nervously looked around him and at one point he grabbed a hold of Zim's arm and hugged it close to him.

Zim scowled and pulled his arm away. "What is your problem?"

"What if the glass breaks?" Skoodge whispered fearfully. "The water would _kill_ us!"

"Calm yourself, Skoodge!" Zim scolded. "The glass in this tunnel is unbreakable! You have nothing, absolutely _nothing_ to worry ab-"

He stopped short when both he and Skoodge noticed a crack in the glass that was leaking, and there was sign that said, "PLEASE DO NOT TAP GLASS FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY!"

Both aliens jumped and yelped at a loud thumping sound and turned to see a great white shark pounding against the glass on the opposite side, a tiny crack forming upon the second impact.

"Eh..." Zim nervously tugged at the collar of his uniform, "let's go visit the rest of the aquarium, shall we?"

Skoodge gulped and eagerly nodded. "Right behind you, buddy."

They hurriedly pushed and shoved past the people to get to the exit, earning grumbles and curses.

...

"So tell me, what's so special about the seahorse pregnancy?" Skoodge pointed to a clearly pregnant seahorse in one of the tanks.

"Well, according to what I read," Zim stepped up to the tank, "the seahorse is the only known Earth animal where the male gets pregnant."

Skoodge stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Eeeugh! The thought of being filled with eggs and giving birth makes me want to throw up!"

"I know," Zim shivered. "It's so...primitive."

"But you know that's got me thinking," Skoodge rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "maybe our ancestors used to do the same thing?"

"What?" Zim incredulously questioned, before he threw his head back and laughed. "Preposterous! Irkens have always been produced through DNA merging methods in labs. To stoop so low as to mate with the opposite sex and give birth to smeets the natural way...ridiculous!"

Skoodge nodded. "Yeah, its gross, but think about it. Before there were the Control Brains and the Empire, there was _us_. Maybe we used to live on a planet just like Earth: full of green and life. Maybe...even water."

Zim considered this for a moment before he shrugged it off and waved his hand dismissively in Skoodge's face. "Rubbish. Anyway, I don't want to walk about the Empire anymore. Remember, we are exiled. They don't want anything to do with us, so we don't want anything to with them."

Skoodge felt a heaviness in his chest as he thought about his home planet, but he knew that Zim was right. He let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I know," he sadly mumbled.

Zim detected his sadness and his stern expression softened a bit. He wasn't very good at comforting; it felt very awkward and unnatural for an Irken like him. But he still placed a gloved hand on Skoodge's shoulder and smiled a little. "So, uh, you want to get something to eat?"

At this, Skoodge's antennas perked up underneath his afro wig and he smiled widely. "You mean, like snacks?" he asked hopefully.

Zim rolled his eyes but he was still smiling. "Just this once."

Skoodge pumped his fists in the air and jumped. "Whoo-hoo! I'm getting pretzels and nachos!" He then dashed in a straight beeline toward the food court, pushing some people aside.

Zim watched as the short, fat Irken jumped up and down in front of the much taller counter as he placed his order. It was both amusing and sad.

"Zim?! Is that you?!"

At that sound of that familiar voice which still haunted him in his dreams, Zim's eyes bulged out and he stared to sweat. "Oh, no..." Very slowly he turned around and sure enough, standing behind him with a creepy wide smile plastered on his face was his ex-best friend Keef.

The boy squealed in excitement. "Omigosh! It's been WAY too long!" He ran to the alien and grabbed him in a tight bear hug.

Zim gasped as he felt the life being choked out of him. "Keef..." he gasped, "let...go of me..."

Keef released him but slung an arm over his shoulder and pulled him close. "How ya been, buddy?! You haven't called me or anything!"

Zim glared at the boy as he reached for the arm on his shoulder and removed it. "I've been _fine_ , Keef," he said in a not-so friendly tone, brushing the boy's filth off his shoulder.

Keef wasn't the least bit offended, though. "Great! So you decided to visit the aquarium? Me, too! See, we think alike! That's why we're best friends! You know, I got a tattoo on my chest in honor of you! See?!" He pulled up his shirt and showed Zim a heart tattoo with a ribbon that had the words, "Zim + Keef 4ever".

Zim could feel the geese lumps forming on his skin and he grimaced. Wasn't it against Earth's laws for a young child to get a tattoo? "Yes, that's...nice," he muttered.

Keef pulled down his shirt and continued to ramble excitedly. "So you wanna go see the sea turtles?! And then we can go get ice cream, and then see a movie, and go to my house and play video games, and maybe even have a sleepover!"

Zim began to feel very uncomfortable and he nervously glanced around him to avoid Keef's gaze. "Yeeeeeah. Listen, uh, Keef-"

"I got the snacks, Zim!" Skoodge came back with a few pretzels and a box of nachos with gooey cheese on top. "Now let's find a table and-" He noticed the strange human boy standing next to Zim. "Uh, who's this?"

Keef greeted him with a friendly smile. "My name's Keef! What's yours?"

"Skoodge," the fat Irken didn't smile back. Something about this human gave him the creeps. "So...you two know each other?"

"Yep!" Keef wrapped an arm around Zim's waist in a half-hug. "We're best friends!"

Zim's eye twitched in anger and he was getting ready to throttle the child for touching him again.

Skoodge raised an eye ridge. "Really? He never mentioned you before. Besides, if anyone's his best friend, it's _me_."

The smile on Keef's face dropped and the arm that was around Zim dropped. "W-What?" he questioned softly.

"Oh, yeah," Skoodge smirked. "Zim and I go a long ways back. We were buddies long before you were even born. Why, we were even activated on the same-"

"Skoodge!" Zim quickly cut him off and put on a nervous, forced smile. "Uh, let's go eat those snacks so that we can see the rest of the aquarium!"

"But, Zim," a look of hurt and betrayal was on Keef's face. "I thought _I_ was your best friend!"

But Zim ignored him and hurried to the food court, dragging Skoodge with him. "NiceseeingyouagainKeefhaveanicelife!"

"Nice to meet you, Keef!" Skoodge cried out as he was being dragged.

As Keef watched them leave, something snapped within in. A feeling that was strange and new to him: jealousy. It felt like the rainbow in his heart had been shattered into millions of pieces and was replaced with dark clouds and deadly lightning...if that even makes sense?

His eye twitched and his eyebrows slowly lowered. Never before had he disliked anyone as much as he disliked that fat best friend stealer.

Zim and Skoodge sat down at a table together and the latter offered his friend a pretzel. Now Keef was grinding his teeth and his hands were balled up into fists. He and Zim used to share lunch like that.

It was official: he absolutely hated that Skoodge kid's guts.

* * *

"So is it really true that seahorses mate for life?" Skoodge asked as he and Zim headed for the exit.

"Why are you so interested in seahorses all of a sudden?" Zim huffed. "That's only the fifteenth question you asked me about seahorses today. And according to what I read, yes, they do."

"Oh, that's...amazing," Skoodge softly said. "I mean, why stick with just one partner when you could have more? Now _that's_ commitment."

"Hmph, sounds like a very sad life," Zim muttered. "Being stuck with someone forever, no matter how bored you become with them."

"I dunno," Skoodge shrugged. "It actually sounds kinda nice to me."

Just before they reached the front doors, Skoodge stopped to briefly look at a tank, in which two seahorses were nuzzling each other with their long noses. They blowed out bubbles which formed into hearts, and the sight made Skoodge feel warm and tingly inside. Yet it also made him feel...empty.

Outside the aquarium, couples were walking around hand in hand, staring into each other's eyes lovingly. Some of them were even embracing and kissing each other passionately.

Skoodge clutched his chest as he passed by them. There it was again. That empty feeling. Like a huge part of him was missing. But why was he feeling this way now? In the entire 200 years of his life, he had never felt so alone.

"Hey, Zim? Do you think it's possible for Irkens to mate?"

Zim stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Skoodge like he had lost his mind. "What? Are you serious right now?"

Skoodge smiled sheepishly and blushed a little. "Just wondering. I guess the answer is no."

* * *

 **Meanwhile, on Planet Meekrob...**

"Keep...keep it away!" Tenn scooted away from the bars of her cell as the SIR unit peeked its head in, staring blankly at her with its large red eyes.

The poor Irken had been tormented for hours by the malfuncting robots. Her captors, the Meekrob, deliberately let them run free in their jail so that they could continue to cause distress for the invader to the point that it would hopefully break her and then they'd be able to get more information out of her.

Tenn closed her eyes and curled up into fetal position, humming no particular tune in a futile attempt to block them all out.

"I trust you are enjoying your stay here, Invader Tenn?" a voice with a slight British accent spoke to her.

She opened her eyes and saw two Meekrob floating in front of her cell. Despite the fear that she was feeling, Tenn attempted to put on a brave face and sat upright.

"Y-You will pay for this!" she pointed a shaky finger at them. "W-When the Tallest find out-"

"Your Tallest will not be coming," one of the Meekrob said. "We just spoke to them."

Tenn's antenna dropped. "What...?" she said barely below a whisper.

"We offered them your safe return," the other Meekrob said. "But they would have to leave our planet be and promise to never return. And do you know what they said?"

The first Meekrob than to speak in Red's voice. _"That's stupid! We'll never surrender to a bunch of blue jellyfish! We'll just find another invader that won't fail next time!"_

Tenn felt like she was going to throw up. The Tallest were going to sacrifice her, after everything she had done for them? Tears welled up in her eyes. "But...they can't just..." she whimpered.

"It appears that you are stuck here for the rest of your pathetic life," the second Meekrob cruelly said. "We're still debating on what to do with you."

"But we can guarantee you this," the first Meekrob floated closer to the bars. "It will not be pleasant."

They then floated away, laughing haughtily. And then, as though they were mimicking the two, the SIR units began to giggle madly, some of them climbing up and down the bars like insects.

Tenn began to sob and curled up in fetal position again. Nobody was coming to save her, because nobody cared.


	20. Chapter 20

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 **Warning: Adult humor in this chapter.**

"Hoo-boy...welp, here goes nothing..."

The mailman gulped nervously as he tiptoed down the street and toward the house of the strange green kid and his green dog. Of all the houses he delivered mail to, this was his least favorite.

Every time he would deliver the mail, if he so much as lifted the door to the mailbox, the insane hyperactive mutt would kick the door open and run toward him, flaying its arms around wildly and screeching at the top of it lungs like a rabid monkey-thing. Of course, he wouldn't stick around to see what would happen if the dog ever caught up to him, as he would run away before it would reach him.

Very slowly and as quietly as he could, he reached for the mailbox door, and glanced at the front door of the house before he shoved the mail in and retreated to his vehicle in less than two seconds. As he predicted, GIR kicked the door open and screeched as he run through the front lawn and chased the mailman as he drove down the street.

Skoodge watched the whole thing through the window and turned to Zim, who was on the couch and reading a book on gardening. "Does he do that every time?"

Zim grunted and nodded without looking up from his book.

After chasing the mailman down a couple of blocks, GIR turned back and took the mail out of the mailbox, humming a merry tune as he stepped back into the house. "You got mail!" he announced excitedly to Zim.

"What did we get today?" Zim asked, still glued to the book.

"Let's see..." GIR looked through the mail at a time. "Jury duty...Bloaty's Pizza Hog coupons...another issue of _Modest Lady_ -"

"What?" Zim looked up from his book this time. "Another issue? GIR, I have repeatedly told you to cancel that subscription!"

"But I like dresses," GIR whined, before he grinned widely. "I wanna dress up as a pretty princess! With pink ribbons and ruby shoes..."

As GIR continued to ramble, Zim groaned and face-palmed. "Whatever! What else did we get in the mail?"

GIR pulled out a single letter and read the address written on the front of the envelope before gasping dramatically. "It's a letter from Mary!"

Zim's antennas perked up. "Eh? Dib?"

The robot tore the envelope open and began to read the letter out loud. "'Dear Boy/Girl, you are invited to Dib Membrane's 13th birthday party starting at 4 pm on Tuesday. There will be snacks and cake and tons of fun activities. Plus every visitor will get a free Membrane T-shirt and laboratory kit. We are looking forward to your visit.'"

Zim jumped off the couch and took the invitation from GIR, reading it himself. "Hmmm...an invitation to Dib's birthday party."

"Can we go?!" GIR begged, pulling at Zim's tunic like a child. "I wanna free T-shirt!"

"Dib..." Skoodge repeated. "Isn't that the human you keep trying to destroy? What, are you guys close buddies now?"

"No," Zim was quick to correct him. "We are just..." He paused, trying to think of a good term to describe their current relationship. "...non-enemies at the moment."

Skoodge did a crooked smirk and looked at him skeptically. "Uh-huh. Anyway, you going to that party? Please say yes, 'cause I want cake."

"T-shirt!" GIR wailed, now clawing at Zim's tunic.

"Cake, Zim!" Drool spilt down Skooge's chin.

"T-SHIRT!"

"Cake...!"

"Alright! Alright!" Zim snapped, slapping both Skoodge and GIR lightly in the face with the letter. "We'll go! Just stop shouting! It's irritating Zim!"

Both Skoodge and the robot cheered while Zim rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly. It was like having two GIR's in one household.

* * *

As he strolled down the sidewalk, Zim noticed a kid whom he recognized from skool walk up to a trash can near the curb and carelessly toss a wadded up piece of paper into it. But he missed and the paper bounced onto the street. The child merely shrugged and walked back to his house.

Zim scowled. "Filthy, littering worms," he hissed. He marched up to the curb and picked up the paper ball. For some reason, he was curious about what was printed on the paper and unfolded it. To his surprise, it was the invitation to Dib's party.

Well, that was one kid who obviously wasn't going. He wondered...

He went to the next trash can and looked inside. Another crumpled up invitation. He searched the next trash can. Another invitation. He didn't have to search the rest to know that he would be the only one to accept the invitation. It was clear as day that Dib wasn't very well liked by all the kids at skool. Even the teachers could hardly tolerate him.

Seeing those crumpled invitations made Zim's chest tighten with hurt. He felt such pity for the boy.

* * *

Out of boredom, Skoodge picked up the _Modest Lady_ issue and began to fumble through the pages, curious about how the female humans dressed up.

All of the ladies in the pictures wore long dresses and sleeves, and none of their clothes were very tight. So basically, their clothing left _everything_ to the imagination.

Yet as the fat Irken trailed his eyes over the pictures, he began to feel...sweaty for some reason, and his breathing became heavy. Why were these females so appealing to him all of a sudden?

* * *

Dib was in the middle of watching a new episode of _Mysterious Mysteries_ when there was a knock at the door. Gaz, who was sitting next to him on the couch playing her game, didn't move a muscle.

"Go get that, Dib," she grumbled. "I'm in the zone."

"Come on, Gaz," Dib whined. "This is a new ep-" The nasty evil look he received made him shut up and sprint to the door. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Zim standing there. "Zim?"

"Afternoon, Dib," Zim greeted with a nod. "I came to inform you that I have received your invitation." He held out the letter for Dib to see. "And I accept."

Dib blinked a few times. "Wait. You mean you're coming?"

"Yes. Am I not speaking English?"

Dib raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Wait, are you coming because you really want to? Or are you just being nice?"

"Who cares?" Zim rather snarkily. "At least you'll have _somebody_ at your party. Be grateful."

Dib sighed and closed the door behind him, taking at seat on the steps of the porch. "Yeah, you're right," he softly said. "Sorry."

Zim immediately regretted his remark and sat down next to him. For a moment, there was an awkward silence before Zim cleared his throat. "So...there will be free T-shirts at this party of yours."

Dob scoffed and took the invitation from Zim. "Yeah. My dad thinks he gets kids when he doesn't even know the first thing about his own. Giving out cheap T-shirts and lab kits won't make them want to come to my party. I mean, come on. None of the kids even want to sit next to me on the skool bus." He crumpled up the paper into a ball. "If Dad ever paid even a speck of attention to what was going on in his kids' lives, he would have known this."

Zim looked at him with sympathetic eyes. The child was alone even in his own home. He had it worse even than Zim did. Yet it made the Irken secretly admire Dib for continuing to suck it up and go on with his miserable life, whereas _he_ wanted to take the easy way out and end his life with a single push of a button.

He took the paper ball and smoothed out the wrinkles as much as he could before he folded it into an airplane. He tossed it into the air and they watched it fly across the street and dive right into a bush.

Dib chuckled softly, feeling a little better.

"You like that?" Zim smirked as he stood up and walked down the porch, motioning for Dib to follow him. "Come with me."

...

They gathered up as many discarded party invitations that they could find in the entire neighborhood and folded them all into airplanes. For the past half hour, they had been playing airplane wars, ducking behind bushes and trash cans and tossing airplanes at each other, just like that one time in deetention.

And this time, Zim wasn't ashamed to admit that he was having fun with Dib.

A couple who was jogging down the street passed by them, and one of the airplanes happened to hit the husband in the eye. He immediately stopped running and started screaming in pain, while the wife tried to get it out.

Although he knew that it was wrong to laugh, Dib couldn't help but chuckle, clamping a hand over his mouth, and then he lost it once Zim started laughing.

The husband, whose eye was red and teary, glared at the two. "Hey! You kids watch where you're throwing those things!"

"S-Sorry!" Dib apologized though he couldn't stop laughing. He was laughing so hard that he hadn't noticed that he was leaning on Zim to support himself. After the couple stomped away, Dib realized what he was doing and immediately backed away from the alien.

He cleared his throat and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry."

Zim cleared his throat as well. "So, uh, feeling better?"

Dib smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Zim. So I guess I'll see you at the party tomorrow?"

Zim nodded. "And GIR will be coming. For some reason, he really wants that T-shirt. And Skoodge will be attending as well."

"Skoodge? Who's Skoodge?"

"Oh, that's right. I never introduced you to him. He's an old, uh...colleague of mine. We attended military school together. Anyway, he's living in my basement now."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Um, okay...? Anyway, thanks again, Zim. And even though nobody else will come to the party, I'll bet that it's still gonna be fun. See ya!" He waved goodbye at Zim as he ran down the street back to his house.

As Zim watched him leave, he reflected over Dib's words, about no one coming to his party. Then the corners of his lips lifted into a smile as he suddenly got a _brilliant_ idea.

...

"Skoodge!" Zim called out to the fat Irken as he slammed the door open. "Quit playing around! We have much work to-!"

He paused when he saw Skoodge on the floor, lying on his back and clutching the _Modest Lady_ magazine close to his chest. His eyes were closed and a blissful look was on his face as he started to rub the magazine all over his body. His antennas moved up and down at hummingbird speed as he starting to make strange purring sounds.

He slowly opened his eyes and instantly tensed up when he noticed Zim standing at the front door. The smaller Irken raised an eye ridge and stared at him in both confusion and disgust.

Skoodge's cheeks flushed and he sat back up straight, tossing the magazine aside. "Uh..."

"Know what?" Zim interrupted, shaking his head. "I don't even want to know."

 **Geez. Imagine if Skoodge had a _Playboy_ magazine. LOL!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Go to the Invader Zim wiki and look up the names of the kids in this fic and you'll see what they look like, unless you already know who they are.**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"Raisins? Seriously?" Skoodge stuck his tongue out in disgust as he inspected a cookie, which Zim angrily snatched out of his hand.

"Do not touch these cookies!" Zim snapped as he placed the cookie back on the plate with the others. "These are for the children!"

"Yeah, but why raisins?" Skoodge asked. "Nobody likes raisins. Why not chocolate chips instead?"

"Because I don't have any chocolate chips! Raisins were all that I had! Now look, we are wasting much valuable time! We must have at least twenty children eat one cookie each by midnight." He shoved the plate into Skoodge's chest. "I am counting on you, Skoodge."

"Why can't you do it?" the fat Irken whined.

"Because I need to look for a gift for the Dib. It is an Earth tradition to give out presents at birthday parties. Not because we're friends, you know, 'cause we're not," he added the last part quickly.

"Well, why can't you get GIR to do it?"

Zim's ruby eyes flickered over to the couch where GIR sat. The robot was sucking on the TV remote like a candy cane. "As much as I love GIR, he is too...stupid. You're the only one I can trust to get the job done." He noticed that Skoodge was smiling weirdly at him. "What?"

"Awww," Skoodge cooed. "You just admitted that you love GIR."

Zim's eyes bugged out and his antennas sunk back in embarrassment. "Whatever!" he shouted and started up push Skoodge toward the door. "Just get out there and do your job!"

"But how am I supposed to sell twenty disgusting rasin cookies by midnight?"

"If I can sell over 1.2 million units of Poop Dawg's candy in twenty-four hours, you can sell twenty cookies in less than eight hours." He roughly pushed the fat Irken outside and slammed the door shut.

Skoodge sighed exasperatedly and went down the steps of the porch.

"And remember, do NOT eat a single cookie!" Zim yelled to him from behind the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I know that!" Skoodge yelled back as he walked down the sidewalk.

...

He knocked on the front door of the first house. A small boy answered, and Skoodge put on a big grin, showing his zipper teeth.

"Hello, boy-slash-girl," he greeted as he rehearsed. "Would you like a free sample of our delicious cookies?"

The boy's face lit up with excitement. "Free? Heck yeah!" He picked up a cookie and was about to eat it when he noticed the raisins on it. "Raisins?! Yuck! No way!" He threw the cookie at Skoodge's face and slammed the door shut.

Skoodge sighed and picked up the cookie from the ground, brushing the dust and dirt off. "This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought."

...

And Skoodge was right. For two hours, he had been going from door to door offering free cookies, but not a single kid would take one due to the raisins on them. He knew that this plan wouldn't work, but Zim was one who was too stubborn for his own good.

Sighing in defeat, he sat down on the porch of the last house that he visited. "This is completely hopeless," he mumbled as he held up a cookie and fiddled with it. "No one is gonna want raisin cookies, even if they are free."

Just then a man in a blue suit and a briefcase in his hand approached the porch. "Excuuuuse me, young man," he said in a high-pitched voice as he stepped around Skoodge. He straightened his tie and knocked on the door.

An obese lady with a tiny bun in her thin hair opened the door and glared at the man. "Look whatever you're selling, we don't want any," she snapped.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," the man smiled and opened up his briefcase, showing its contents to her. "I'm selling new hair sprays that haven't even been introduced in the cosmetics market yet."

"I already got hairs prays," the woman huffed.

"Ah, but do you have hair sprays that make you grow even more hair?"

Now the woman was interested. "Really?"

The man grinned even wider. "Why yes! Our scientists have added a formula that stimulates hair growth! Not only will your hair smell beautiful, it will look even _more_ beautiful than it already is!"

The woman blushed and giggled while twirling a tiny strand of hair that hung by her ear. "Oh, well, in that case...I'll take seven!"

Skoodge's jaw dropped as he watched her hand the salesman a rather large stack of money and anxiously take several cans of hair spray from out of his briefcase. As he went down the steps of the porch and counted his money, he chuckled and muttered, "Sucker."

Skoodge rubbed his chin thought. That guy just sold his merchandise through flattery and deceit. A grin slowly formed on his face as he got an idea.

...

Rob answered and looked at the green fat kid with the cookies suspiciously.

"Hello, boy-slash-girl!" Skoodge greeted him with a smile. "I am giving out free samples of our raisin cookies. Now I know what you're thinking: who wants to eat anything with raisins in it? But these aren't just ordinary raisins. They, uh..." His fake blue human eyes looked up to the two tuffs of orange hair on Rob's head. "They help you grow more hair!"

The boy seemed pleased with this and took a cookie. "Really? Neat! I wanna grow a Mohawk!"

As Rob munched on his cookie, Skoodge took off down the street giggling madly to himself. "I can't believe it! It's working!"

...

"If you eat even just one, you'll be rid of all those disgusting pimples within a few hours!"

Jessica snatched a cookie and poked one of her zits. "Might as well," she huffed. "That anti-zit cream is useless."

Skoodge watched in disgust as white pus oozed out from the zit. "Ew...!"

...

"..you'll be cured of that pink eye!"

Pinky, who was suffering from _another_ ugly case of pink eye, squealed in delight and took a cookie.

...

"...you'll shoot lasers out of your eyes!"

"AHH! WICKED COOL!" Melvin screeched and tried to take two cookies instead of just one.

"Whoa, hey!" Skoodge snatched a cookie from him. "Just one!"

"GIMMIE MORE!" Melvin tried to reach for the plate of cookies but Skoodge took off running. The crazed boy chased after the scared Irken, making weird animalistic sounds.

...

"...you'll, uh...look less ugly?"

"Jolly good! I'll take one!" Willy declared in his British accent, still brainwashed from the Skool election event about a year ago.

...

Within one hour, Skoodge had given away nineteen cookies and there was only one left. And he had plenty of time to spare, as it was only 4 o'clock in the afternoon. He smiled confidently to himself as he walked up to the last house and knocked on the door. To his surprise, a familiar face answered.

"Oh, hey, you're, uh, Keef, right? Zim's friend?"

The obsessive ex-best friend of Zim glared hatefully at Skoodge. " _Best_ friend, actually," he corrected through gritted teeth.

Skoodge raised an eye ridge. "Okaaaaaaay. Anyway, Zim and I are passing out free cookies." He held out the plate to Keef. "And there's only one left. Want one?"

Slowly the corners of Keef's mouth lifted into an evil, predatory smile. "Sure. Sure, I'll take one." He opened the door all the way and gestured for Skoodge to come in. "In fact, why don't you come in for a bit? A friend of Zim's is a friend of mine."

Suddenly Skoodge got a really bad vibe and something was telling him to make a run for it. "Uh...you know what? No thanks. I'll just be on my way and-"

But before he could turn back, Keef all of a sudden lunged at him with a sack and pulled it down over his head, leaving him in complete darkness.

* * *

The sack was abruptly taken from his head and he found himself tied to a folding chair in a dark room. He could see a washer and a dryer as well as a stack of cardboard boxes, and he came to the conclusion that he was in a basement.

His kidnapper came into view and smiled evilly as he munched on his cookie. "Welcome to my home, Skoodge," he said in an eerily calm voice.

"Uh, Keef, why did you blind me and then tie me to this chair?" Skoodge asked a bit nervously.

The boy sneered and leaned in close to Skoodge's face. "Because you're a dirty, rotten best friend stealer." He clutched Skoodge's tunic and pulled him even closer to the point that their faces nearly touched. "Zim is my best friend. Not yours. Mine."

"Wait...is _that_ what this is all about?" Skoodge asked incredulously. "You think I stole Zim from you or something?"

"That's right," Keef hissed. He let go of Skoodge's tunic and stepped back. "And after I get rid of you, Zim and I will be best friends again." His expression softened as he reminisced about that time when they were friends for just one day. He sighed blissfully. "Yeah, I've never been so happy in my entire life."

The fat Irken gulped. "S-So...what are you planning to do to me?"

Immediately the evil expression on Keef's face returned and he walked over to the stack of cardboard boxes. He picked one out and started to empty it of its contents.

Skoodge's face instantly paled. "Oh no. You're gonna kill me, aren't you? You're gonna chop me up into pieces and put whatever's left of me in that box! And then you're gonna bury that box in some ditch or drop it into a bottomless pit, aren't you?! AREN'T YOU?!"

Keef stopped and looked over at Skoodge. "What? No! I'm just gonna mail you to China."

Skoodge instantly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, wait a minute. I can't go to China now. I gotta go to Dib's birthday party tomorrow! Plus I don't have a passport."

"Well, too bad," Keef glared at him as he went up the stairs. "You're going to China tomorrow and there's nothing you can do it. I'll be right back." The door slammed shut and Skoodge was left alone in the basement.

"Oh, man," Skoodge muttered. "That Earth boy is nuts. I gotta outta here." He strained to wiggle his way out of the ropes that bound him but was unsuccessful. Then he tried to jump out of the ropes but only caused the chair to hop around.

"Okay, okay. Then I'll just have to run with the chair still tied to me." He tilted the chair forward so that his feet would touch the ground. But he quickly regretted it as he fell flat on his face and broke a few of his teeth off. As he spat them out, he groaned miserably. "Oh, it's hopeless. I'll never get outta here. Guess I'll just have to get used to eating my meals with chopsticks from now on."

Then his eyes bulged out as he suddenly got an idea. "Wait. Duh! Of course!"

The mechanical spider legs popped out of his pak and cut the ropes in the process. Now freed, he quickly looked around for another exit other than the door. He grinned as he spotted an awning window high above his head and used his spider legs to climb up the wall. As he started to push the window outward, the door suddenly opened and Keef came back down the stairs with some tape and stamps.

"I'm back! Now let's get started on..." His eyes popped out when he saw Skoodge trying to crawl under the awning window and make an escape. He dropped his stuff and ran back upstairs.

When the alien saw that he was discovered and running out of time, he clawed wildly at the grass as he pushed harder than he ever had in his life. When his fat body was finally able to squeeze through, he sprinted down the street and headed for Zim's base.

Then he heard a _ding-ding_ from behind him and glanced back as he continued to run. Keef was chasing after him on his bike, and seeing that deranged, bloodthirsty look in his eyes made Skoodge pick up the pace. But his tiny little legs were no match for the wheels of the bike and Keef was getting closer.

In a desperate attempt to lose him, Skoodge made a sharp turn and headed down a steep grassy hill. He quickly realized that this was a grave mistake as the hill made Keef's bike go even _faster_ and he was nearly upon him.

"Oh, come on!" Skoodge wailed and focused his attention back to the path in front of him. He was heading straight for a single tree and immediately got an idea. He waited until he was close enough before he leapt to the right and dodged the tree just in time.

Keef screamed as he continued to ride straight into the tree.

BAM!

After painfully colliding with the tree, Keef slid down the trunk and landed on his back, his face now covered with bruises and splinters. And then a whole bunch of acorns dropped down upon him, covering him in a pile.

Skoodge winced at the scene. "Ooh. That's gotta hurt."

Keef's head popped out at the sound of squirrels chittering. He looked up and sure enough, a multitude of squirrels were staring down at him with black hungry eyes. They slowly made their way down and surrounding the boy. Then they all lunged at him, making blood-chilling screeching sounds which mixed in while Keef's screams of terror.

Skoodge watched in horror as the squirrels completely covered the pile of acorns, and soon afterwards they dispersed. There were no acorns left...nor any sign of Keef. Except for a tiny device that flashed a red light. He walked over to where it lay and very gently picked it up.

It was a tiny robot spider that was about the size of a bead, smaller even.

"Oh, man. Zim is gonna kill me."

* * *

When he returned to the base later that night, he saw Zim wrapping up a present in the kitchen. Upon hearing the fat Irken enter the house, he quickly turned around and grinned.

"Ah, Skoodge! Took you long enough! I trust that you have succeeded in giving away all of the cookies?"

Skoodge chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah...almost."

The smile on Zim's face dropped and he narrowed his ruby eyes. "What do you mean, 'almost'?" he asked with some anger in his voice. He should've known that Skoodge would somehow foul up.

"Well, I gave away nineteen!" Skoodge quickly explained, then he held out the robot spider to Zim. "I just had some...trouble with the last one. You know that Keef kid?"

Zim's antenna went straight up at the mention of that human's name. "Yeah...?"

"You weren't kidding, Zim. He was totally _insane_! He kidnapped me and locked me up in his basement and threatened to mail me to China! Luckily, I escaped and then he got eaten by some squirrels."

Zim looked at him skeptically, and Skoodge had a feeling that he wasn't really buying it. "Okaaaaay? Anyway! Not a complete loss." He picked up the robot spider in between his thumb and index finger and observed it. "As we speak, these little control spiders are making their way toward the children's brains. All we have to do now is wait until midnight for them to activate, and then the children's minds will be ours to control. They'll have no choice but to do our bidding."

"Wow. Can those tiny little things really control minds, Zim?" Skoodge asked in awe.

"Of course they can!" Zim snapped, feeling slightly offended. "You question my genius?"

"Well, if you were such a genius, you would've used chocolate chips instead of raisins," Skoodge sassed.

SLAP!

"OW! Just saying!"

* * *

At the stroke of midnight, as the nineteen infected children slept, the control spiders that were latched onto their brains all at once activated and flashed green instead of red.

Each child opened his or her eyes, revealing their pupils which were now glowing green...

 **Well, what's happening here? What on Earth does Zim have planned for these kids that now have robot spiders in their heads? Can any of you guys guess?**


	22. Chapter 22

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

He sat at the kitchen table with his chin resting in his hands, kicking his legs back and forth in a bored manner, and every now and then, he'd blow his party horn.

Gaz walked in with a soda in her hand, raising an eyebrow at her brother. "Who are you waiting for? No one's coming to the party, you know that, right?"

Dib took the horn out of his mouth. "Zim's coming."

She almost spat out her soda in a stifled laughter. " _Zim?_ You're kidding, right?"

"No, he really is," Dib insisted. "I mean, why not? We're not enemies anymore."

"So you two are friends now?"

"Well, uh...no. Not yet, anyway."

Gaz scoffed as she approached the table. "Sure. Whatever." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box that was wrapped in purple paper. "Anyway, happy birthday, loser." She shoved it into his chest before she headed back into the living room, guzzling down the rest of her soda.

He unwrapped the box and removed the lid, gasping at what was inside. "No way! A Mysterious Mysteries watch! With glow-in-the-dark spaceship prints! Thanks, Gaz!" He heard his sister grumble in response.

Just then the doorbell rang and Dib sprinted to the front door excitement, knowing full well who it was. "Coming!" And sure enough, when he opened the door, Zim and GIR were standing on his doorstep in their usual disguises.

Zim had a present in one hand and a couple of balloons that had Irken symbols on them in the other. "We have arrived, birthday-worm!" he announced as he handed the present to Dib. "Feel honored to have Zim as a guest."

Dib smiled as he received his present. "Thanks for coming, Zim. You, too, GIR."

"MERRY BIRTHDAY!" GIR squealed with delight as he hugged Dib's waist tight.

"Oof!" Dib coughed, struggling for air as the robot squeezed even harder. "GIR...GIR!"

Zim quickly pulled GIR off of the boy. "Down, GIR! Save it for the piñata!"

Dib raised an eyebrow as he rubbed his now aching sides. "Piñata? We don't have a-"

"Special delivery for Dib Membrane!"

Zim stepped aside, revealing a fat green kid standing on the sidewalk. He wore an Afro wig and the same Irken outfit as Zim's. In his hands was a moose-shaped piñata.

Dib took note of fat kid's unusual features, such as no nose or ears and green skin. That could only mean one thing. "So I take it that you're Skoodge?"

"Yep!" Skoodge walked up the steps and eagerly shook Dib's hand. "Nice to meet you, Membrane. Zim told me all about you. I love the part about you two turning into Bologna."

Dib looked at Zim annoyed. "Really? You told him about _that_?"

Zim smirked and shrugged before he stepped inside. "Anyway, let's get on with the birthday celebration!" He pulled Dib aside and whispered in his ear. "Oh, by the way, you wouldn't happen to have any _Modest Lady_ issues in this house, do you?" He suspiciously eyed Skoodge as he walked past them.

Dib looked at him puzzled. "Uh...no?"

"Good. Just checking."

...

"WHEEEEEEEEEE!" GIR was having the time of his life in the bouncy house.

Skoodge eagerly took his boots off before he crawled in and joined GIR. The round Irken bounced around like a basketball. "This is a whole more fun than anti-gravity training!" he laughed.

In the backyard, there were five tables with four chairs each, and only one was occupied. Zim and Dib participated in the game of tic-tac-toe on the activity sheet that was provided to them. Dib was the O's while Zim was the X's.

"At least I finally have someone to draw the X's," Dib said as he drew another O.

Zim filled in the last square in a vertical row, which had one O and another X, and smiled triumphantly. "HA! Victory! I have conquered this game of the tic, tac, and toe!"

Dib looked down at the sheet then back up at Zim with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, not yet you didn't."

"...Eh?"

"To win, you need to place three of your letters in row. Like this." Dib filled in the last square in a horizontal row and then drew a line through all three O's. "See? I win!"

"LIES!" Zim pointed an acussing finger at Dib then crumbled the paper into a ball. "Zim? _Lose?!_ NEVER! Zim demands a rematch!" He took another sheet and started the game by drawing an X in the middle box. "Your move, Dib-worm."

Dib chuckled as he stood up. "Okay, but I gotta use the restroom real quick."

Zim groaned in frustration and clenched his fists. "Can't your inferior bladder wait for two more minutes?!"

"Sorry, Zim!" Dib hurried back into house. "I'll be right back!"

...

As he washed his hands in the sink, he thought he heard the front door downstairs open constantly, which he struck as rather odd, considering that he wasn't expecting any more guests. Why would there be more, since all of the invitations were thrown away? Maybe they were his Dad's work buddies.

Then he heard pop music playing outside, and now he was even more puzzled. His Dad hated that genre of music and couldn't stand to listen to it.

He went back downstairs and slid the patio doors open...

...and the entire class was in his backyard, partying and playing games. When they heard the doors open, they all turned and shouted in unison with smiles on their faces, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIB!"

Dib stared wide-eyed before he slapped himself in the face in case this was a dream or hallucination. But he quickly realized that all of this was real. "Wh-Wha...?"

Zita ran to him and shook his hand. "Congrats on turning 13!"

"Yeah, man!" Torque Smackey walked up from behind him and playfully slapped Dib on the back, almost knocking him down.

Dib looked over at the gifts table and there was a huge pile of presents for him, the biggest pile he had ever seen. "Okay, this can't be real," he mumbled, still finding it hard to believe.

"What can't be real, birthday-worm?" Zim approached him with a glass of punch in his hand.

" _This_!" Dib gestured to the party. "Everyone here hates my guts. How could they come to my party and be having _fun_?"

"I 'uhhu," Zim mumbled with a shrug before he took a sip of his drink.

"It doesn't make any sense," Dib scratched his head. "Maybe Dad paid them to come here and act all happy."

"Who cares?" Zim roughly shoved him toward the party. "This is _your_ special day, Earth child. Now get out there and enjoy it."

Dib hesitated and looked back at Zim. "But-"

"Be gone with you!" Zim snapped, dismissing him with a wave. "Have fun!"

The boy sighed with a shrug and joined the others. He observed the looks on the kids' faces, and their delight seemed genuine. It looked like they really were having fun, but Dib knew better. Something was wrong here, and he had a feeling that Zim was behind all this.

"Hey, Dib!"

He turned and saw a small group of kids gathering around the moose piñata that hung from the lowest branch of a tree. Peyoopi ran to Dib and handed him a baseball bat. "It's time to start whacking the piñata, and since it's your birthday, you get to do the honors!"

"But I- hey!" Chunk covered Dib's eyes with a blindfold and he was being pushed to where the piñata hung. He couldn't see, but he could hear the kids cheer and root for him to hit the paper-mache moose. "Eh, why not?" he shrugged and prepared to swing.

He managed to hit it seven times, and on the seventh whack, the moose broke in half and its contents fell out. He removed the blindfold and expected to see candy, but to his confusion, there was a pile of walnuts on the ground instead.

"WALNUTS!" GIR shrilled as he dove right into the pile and began to shove the nuts into his mouth, crunching on them.

As Zim watched them from afar off, Gaz stepped outside and stood next to him, amazed at how crowded the backyard had suddenly become. "Wow," she raised an eyebrow. "Where'd _these_ kids come from?"

"Hmmm, yes, where indeed did all these children come from?" Zim dramatically pondered out loud, smiling to himself. "It is a mystery to me as to why-"

"You did something to them, didn't you?"

"...What? No! Of course not! They must've come out of the kindness of their pathetic hearts!"

But Gaz wasn't buying it, and Zim could tell by the expression on her face. But he refused to crack. "You dare call Zim a liar?!" he pointed accusingly at her.

Gaz scoffed. "I'm not calling you anything...except a dweeb. Anyway, you're probably right. If you're too dumb to take over the planet, then you couldn't possibly have brainwashed these kids into coming here and acting all friendly toward Dib."

"What?!" Zim was outraged. A little human girl insulting his intelligence? "Shows how much _you_ know, Gaz-beast! Even as we speak, tiny robot spiders are crawling all over their inferior brains, commanding them to attend Dib's party and have fun!"

A lopsided grin formed on Gaz's lips. "Gotcha."

Zim blinked, realizing that he had been tricked. He slowly narrowed his eyes into a glare at her. "I hate you."

"I knew it."

Zim startled when he heard Dib's voice and swiftly turned around to see the boy standing behind, an amused look on his face as he munched on some walnuts.

"Dib!" Zim began to sweat a little and pulled on the collar of his tunic. "Eh, I-"

"So you brainwashed all these kids and forced them to be my friends?" Dib crossed his arms and took a step forward.

Zim took a step back and held up his hands defensively. "Just for the day! After the party is over, everything will go back to normal and they won't remember a thing!"

"That's exactly what bothers me, Zim." His expression softened as he explained it to the alien. "Look, Zim, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, and this is all very touching. But...it's not real. I want friends who actually like me for who I am, not because they're forced to. And none of these kids like me when they're not being brainwashed."

Zim looked at the party then back at Dib with a raised eye ridge. "So what you're saying is, you'd rather be miserable and all alone on your birthday then be in the company of your mind-controlled peers and at least pretend that it's all real?"

Dib stared at him and began to awkwardly scratch his chin. "Well, uh, when you put it like that-"

"Zim's got a point," Gaz told him. "At least you're not sad and alone like you usually are on your birthday. Be grateful."

"I am, Gaz. Believe me, I am. But-"

"Present time!" Melvin pulled on Dib's arm and dragged him to a table. All of the kids gathered around and held out their presents to him.

"Open mine, Dib!"

"No, open mine!"

"You'll really love this!"

"Come on, Dib! Open mine!"

Dib paused before he took Zita's present first. He quickly tore the wrapping off and his eyes nearly bugged out. "Whoa! A remote-controlled hovering spaceship! With a built-in camera! Thanks, Zita!"

"You think that's cool?" The Letter M eagerly handed his present to Dib. "Check this out!"

Dib unwrapped the gift and smiled widely as he opened the book and flipped through the pages. "Awesome! An entire history of alien-spottings throughout the globe!"

The kids began to crowd in on him, showering him with presents. Dib laughed as he told them, "Okay! Okay! One at a time please!"

One by one, he opened a present and was met with a pleasant surprise inside. All of the gifts were decent and cool, but he was anxious to see what Zim, the mastermind behind this perfect party, had bought or even made for him.

Finally, it was Zim's turn. The green alien approached the table and proudly presented his gift to the birthday day. "The best for last!" he announced with such boast.

Dib grinned and wasted no time in tearing the wrapping off, revealing a small cardboard box. He lifted the lid and peeked inside...

"...huh?" He took out the items one at a time. "A couple of razors...a bottle of moonshine cologne...and...what is this, a lifesaver?" He held up a small packet with something round inside.

Zim threw his head back and laughed. "No, silly Earth child. It is what you humans call a 'condom'."

Dib's face flushed from embarrassment and he dropped the packet.

"According to what I read on human puberty," Zim patted him on the shoulder, "you are officially on your way to becoming a man. Congratulations, Dib!"

Now Dib's face was as red as an apple and he covered it with his hands. It didn't help that some of the girls were giggling.

Zim was oblivious to Dib's embarrassment and grinned even wider. "Yes, I know. You're speechless. I knew you would be."

"Okay, kids!"

Everyone looked to the patio where Professor Membrane stood. He held a large birthday cake with thirteen candles and blue frosting. "It's cake time!"

The kids cheered as he set the cake down on the table and they all turned to Dib, anxiously waiting for him to blow out the candles.

As he looked around at all the people who had given him gifts and made him feel special, for the first time in his life, Dib felt like the happiest and luckiest kid in the world. Even if it wasn't real, Zim was right: he could at least pretend that it was. He glanced over at Zim and flashed him a grateful smile before he stood up and prepared to blow.

 _BOOM!_

Frosting flew everywhere as GIR suddenly popped out of the cake. "IT'S ME!" the robot dog giggled. "I WAS THE CAKE ALL ALONG!"

"Huh?" Skoodge scratched his Afro in confusion. "But...you were just over there two minutes ago." He pointed to the small pile of walnuts under the tree.

Dib was completely covered in frost from head to toe. Zim looked ready to throttle GIR for ruining the cake, and he probably would've too, if Dib hadn't started laughing. The other kids laughed along with him, and even Zim couldn't resist chuckling.

This turned out to be an okay party after all.

* * *

"Bye, Dib!"

"Later, dude!"

"Happy Birthday!"

Dib waved to the kids on the doorstep as they headed back to their homes later that evening. "Say," he turned to Zim, "what happens to the little spider robot things after midnight?"

"Oh, they just self-destruct," Zim casually told him.

"Self-destruct?!"

"Don't worry! The tiny explosions won't harm them...although I could program the spiders to eat their brains if you want," Zim tempted with a devilish smile.

Dib crossed his arms and looked him disapprovingly. "Zim..."

Zim rolled his eyes and huffed. "Fine. I was hoping you'd say yes."

"Zim?" Skoodge walked up to the two and was holding GIR in his arms. "Can we go home now? GIR won't stop throwing up. Too much cake."

On cue, GIR opened his mouth and blue vomit shot out, hitting Skoodge in the face.

"Okay, head on back to the base," Zim told him. "I'll meet you there."

The fat Irken carried GIR all the way back home, groaning and spitting out frosty puke.

"I'd better get going," Zim turned back to Dib. "GIR might throw up on the couch...or worse yet in the refrigerator."

"Yeah," Dib nodded, rubbing his arm and glancing to the side. "Listen, uh, Zim...what you did for me today..."

"Think nothing of it," Zim shook his head. "I only wanted to repay you."

"Repay me? For what?"

"For giving me the motivation to keep on living."

A strange warmth filled Dib's heart after hearing those words. It was an amazing, indescribable feeling, to know that you helped someone find a reason to go on. "Well, uh...sure, Zim. Yeah."

Zim smiled and began to walk down the steps.

"And Zim?"

The alien stopped to look back at him.

Dib smiled warmly at him. "Thanks for being the only real friend I ever had."

Zim's eyes widened. "Eh? You mean...we are officially friends now?"

Dib nodded. "Yeah. I think we have been for a long time, actually, even if we didn't know it. So..." He went down the steps and without hesitation wrapped his arms around Zim in a hug.

Zim stiffened in Dib's grasp, and they stayed like that for a moment. Then he slowly lifted his arms...

...and roughly pushed Dib away. "Alright, we're friends," Zim grumbled, brushing all the human germs off. "But none of that hugging and cuddly stuff. Only GIR gets to do that...rarely."

Dib chuckled and shrugged. "Sure. I'm okay with that."

"Anyway, Happy Birthday, Dib," Zim muttered as he went down the sidewalk. But unknown to Dib, the alien was smiling to himself.

* * *

The automatic door slid open as Agent Spider stomped out of the hospital and toward his brand new Jaguar car in the parking lot. His left arm was in a cast and his right eye was swollen, but nothing hurt more than his pride.

"Little Membrane brat," he muttered as he hopped into his vehicle. "Making a fool out of me. Well, no more Mr. Nice Guy." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his new dark sunglasses. He put them on and started the engine. "From now on, it's gonna Mr. Big Bad Goverment Man. And Mr. Big Bad Government Man always gets what he wants."

 **Oh, no! Spider is back! :o**

 **Happy 2018! :D**


	23. Chapter 23

**NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 _He felt something cold and wet nudge his cheek and opened his eyes to see a certain red fox standing over him._

 _Zim's ruby eyes widened. "S-Spleen? SPLEEN!"_

 _He sat upright and hugged the fox tight with one hand stroking the animal's head. They were back in the forest, surrounding by trees and bushes. Somewhere in the woods, the birds chirped merrily and the woodpeckers pecked._

 _Zim felt hot tears forming in his eyes and his antennas flattened as he rubbed his cheek against the soft fur. "Oh, Spleen, I have missed you dearly. I am sorry that I let those drooling beasts tear you apart. Can you ever forgive me?"_

 _Suddenly, in a flash, Spleen disappeared in Zim's arms. "Spleen? SPLEEN?! COME BACK!" Zim frantically waved his hands around in front of him, but he felt nothing but air._

 _Then flames appeared out of nowhere and consumed the trees, and the birds and squirrels dropped to the ground, dead and burning. Zim gasped in horror and fled, pulling the communicator from out of his pak. "GIR! Come retrieve me immediately!" But all he heard was static. "GIR?! Your master's in danger! Come retrieve me NOW!" But he still didn't get a response from his robot servant._

 _He finally made it out of the burning forest...only to find that the entire city was consumed in flames as well._

 _"What is happening?!" Zim shouted, gripping the sides of his head. Then his eyes bugged out when he suddenly reminded something very important. "DIB!"_

 _Disregarding his own safety, he headed straight for the city. All around him, the humans either lay on the ground dead or ran to safety. He could ear explosions and gunfire going off in the distance. Was there a war going on?_

 _But he wasn't worried about that right now. All just mattered was finding Dib and getting him to safety. He picked up the pace at the thought of his human friend being in danger._

 _But then he tripped over something and fell flat on his face. He groaned and spat out dirt as he lifted his head and looked behind him to see what he had tripped over._

 _To his utter horror and despair, it was Dib's body._

 _"DIB!" He quickly flipped the body over and it was riddled with bloody bullet holes. Dib's now lifeless brown eyes stared blankly at the smoky sky and blood trickled down his chin._

 _"Oh...no...Dib...!" Zim choked as he desperately searched for a pulse, but he could find none. The child's skin felt icy cold, which indicated that he had been dead for sometime. The alien rested his head on Dib's chest and his soft crying quickly escalated into pitiful wailing._

 _He lost track of time as he lay there, but then from the corner of his eye, he saw a shadowy figure approach them. He instantly got a bad vibe and slowly reached for the ray gun in the pocket of his pants. He whipped around and aimed his weapon at..._

 _...himself?_

 _Standing before him and pointing his own ray gun at him was another Zim. His ruby eyes were filled with so much hate and bloodlust, and his zipper grin was so unsettling and creepy._

 _Zim stammered in disbelief, "Wha...Who...Who are you?"_

 _His copy chuckled darkly. "Are you that stupid? I am you, of course. Who you_ really _are."_

 _"I-I don't..."_

 _"I am your true self. You tried to conceal me and pretend to be a tree-hugging granola -head, but you can't keep it up forever. One of these days, you will snap and embrace your inner invader once again."_

 _"N-No...! Never!" He wrapped his arms around Dib and protectively held him close. "Never again! I've changed! I am never going back to my old ways!"_

 _"Oh, but you will." The other Zim smiled devilishly as he aimed his gun at Zim's head. "It's only a matter of time."_

 _ZAP!_

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Zim woke up screaming and fell off his chair. He groaned as he lifted himself up and looked at his surroundings.

He was back in the base, and GIR was sleeping on the ground next to him, sucking his thumb and cuddling with his plush caterpillar. Zim sighed softly and reached over to caress the robot's cold metal cheek. As crazy as it sounds, he sometimes wished that he could be more like GIR: happy all the time and without a care in the world.

And more importantly, innocent and pure.

Zim shivered as he replayed that horrible nightmare in his head. Was it a warning? A foreshadowing of what was to come? Or was he simply overthinking this and taking it too seriously

Maybe he just needed a midnight snack. Yeah, that's it. Hunger can cause nightmares, after all.

He picked up a nearby blanket and draped it over GIR before he stepped into the elevator.

...

He placed the bowl of blackberries on the table and popped one into his mouth. He chewed slowly and savored the sweet taste of Nature's-

"ZIM!"

He startled and choked on the berry for a few seconds before a hand slapped him hard on the back. He coughed up the berry and spat it out, then he glared back at the person who scared him and caused to choke in the first place.

"Skoodge!" he yelled angrily at the fat Irken. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Sorry, Zim," Skoodge held out a touchpad and pointed to what was playing on the screen. "But we've got a major problem."

Zim rolled his eyes and turned around in his chair to look at the screen. The Announcer from Irk was smiling as usual as he talked about the news, which always related to Irken affairs.

 _...Meekrob have offered to release Invader Tenn under the terms that the Irken military and the Meekrob military form a truce. However, the Almighty Tallest have refused their offer and insist on continuing the invasion regardless of Tenn's fate. In response to the Tallest's refusal to stand down, the Meekrob have officially declared war against the Irken Empire._

Zim blinked before he shrugged with a "meh" and took a sip of his cola.

"Zim, we have to do something!" Skoodge insisted.

"No, we don't," Zim sternly said. "We want nothing to do with Empire anymore, remember?"

Skoodge shook his head. "No, I mean, we have to go rescue Tenn!"

Zim raised an eye ridge. "Tenn? Why?"

"She could die!"

Zim lowered his brow and turned back to the bowl of blackberries. "So? It's not our problem anymore."

Skoodge looked at his friend appalled. "Zim, how could you say that?! You'll save a dying baby whale but you won't save one of your own kind?!"

"One of my kind?" Zim sneered at him as he picked up a berry. "That's where you're wrong, Skoodge. Their kind, Tenn's kind, find humor in the suffering and destruction of inferior creatures. They have absolutely no respect for nature and wouldn't know true beauty if it was shoved in their faces. No, Tenn had it coming, and her people turning a blind eye and going on with their own lives just confirms that I am right about them."

Skoodge slowly narrowed his eyes at Zim in growing anger. "Like how you're turning a blind eye right now?"

Zim froze as he was about to pop the berry into his mouth, his antennas straight up.

"How are you proving that you're any different from them by just sitting here on your butt and doing nothing to help her?" Skoodge continued to challenge him.

The smaller Irken stood up from his chair and faced his fat companion. "Why are you so insisted on saving Tenn anyway?" he demanded. "Huh? Does it have anything to do with your sudden...urges?"

Skoodge looked nervous and began to sweat a little. "Urges? I-I-I don't know what you're-"

"Oh, come now," Zim groaned. "You are clearly obsessed with the concept of mating with a female companion."

"W-Wha-?!" Skoodge's entire face became red. "No! This has nothing to do with that!"

Zim looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"YES!" Skoodge snapped. "Look, I only want to rescue Tenn because I don't want to live with the guilt of knowing that I could've rescued someone but decided not to. Now can we please go rescue her?!"

Zim thought about this for a moment. Going into Meekrob territory unprepared and unarmed was suicide, and now that they have declared war against Irk, he and Skoodge would be shown no mercy should they get captured.

But Skoodge did have a point: not rescuing Tenn would make just him as despicable as the Tallest and the other Irkens. Could he really live with himself if he were to leave her to her doom?

No. Unfortunately, he couldn't.

Growling in frustration, he clenched his hands into fists and brought his right one down on the table. "Arrrgh! _Fine!_ We will go rescue Invader Tenn! BUT!...as soon as we rescue her, we dump her on Planet Dirt and go back home!"

Skoodge smiled big and did a fist pump. "Yes! I knew you'd come arou- wait a minute. Dump her on Planet Dirt? Why?"

"Because she's garbage, like the rest of the Irken race," Zim coldly stated.

"But that's...kinda cruel, don't you think?"

"Do you want to save her or not?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then no more arguments!" Zim jumped off his chair and made his way to the elevator. "We must hurry and get there before the Armada does. Computer! Prepare the Voot Cruiser!"

* * *

"You're going on a trip into space, huh?"

"A rescue mission, to be exact. But we won't be gone long."

Later that night, Dib and Zim were sitting on the porch steps of the Membrane house, while GIR was playing with a ladybug on the lawn.

"I'd ask you to come with us, but we're entering very dangerous terrority," Zim told his human friend. "You could get horribly mangled or tortured, and I can't risk that."

Dib's eyes widened. "Oh. Well, in that case, I'll _definitely_ stay here."

Zim nodded. "Good. Because if it anything were to happen to you, I wouldn't..." The image of Dib lying on the ground and covered with bullet holes came back and he bit his lower lip, which was trembling. "...I would never forgive myself," he softly said.

Dib was touched by Zim's concern and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Sure, Zim. I understand. But could you do something for me?"

"Sure, Dib. Anything."

"Bring me back a space rock. I've always wanted one of those."

Zim laughed and stood up with his hands on his hips. "Of course, Dib! But I will give you more than just a space rock! I will also bring you the corpse of a Meekrob for you to study and dissect! They're so soft and...squishy, like those fishes made of jelly!"

Dib stared up at him. "Uh...no thanks. Just a rock will be fine."

Zim frowned and sighed disappointedly. He was hoping that Dib would say yes to that. "Oh, fine."

Suddenly, they heard a loud whirring sound and looked up to see the Voot Cruiser hovering over them. Skoodge sat in the pilot's seat and rolled down the windshield. "Ready to go, Zim?" he called out to the shorter Irken below.

"Yes, yes! We're coming!" Zim turned to GIR, who was rolling around on the grass. "Come, GIR! It's time to leave!"

"Okie-Dokie!" GIR giggled and brushed the dirt off as he rushed to Zim's side.

"So...you're coming back, right?" Dib looked at Zim worriedly.

"Of course," Zim assured him. "We'll be back before you can say 'dookie'."

"You know I don't really care about the space rock, right? I just want my friend to come back in one piece."

"Don't fret your big head, Dib. GIR will come back with all of his parts still attached to him."

"I wasn't talking about-"

"I know," Zim grinned as he playfully punched Dib in the arm. "And you needn't worry about Zim. I am a former invader, after all."

The boy smiled back and rubbed his arm. "Heh. Yeah, okay. I guess that's good enough for me. But really, Zim, come back, okay?"

"I promise," Zim said with a nod. "Skoodge, take us up."

The ship shot down a beam of blue light over Zim and GIR and the two were lifted off the ground. They waved at Dib as they were slowly being pulled toward an opening in the ship, and once they were inside, the Cruiser sped away at the speed of light into the night sky.

Dib watched as a star twinkled right where the ship disappeared. "Dookie," he somberly said, already wishing for Zim and GIR to come back. "Wait. Did I really just say that?"

"Dib?" Professor Membrane opened the front door and stepped outside, looking at his son with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing out here?"

"Um, you know...catching fireflies?" Dib smiled nervously at his dad.

Membrane paused before he threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Ah, you funny child. Well, it's almost time for that movie you kids have been wanting to see all month."

"Movie? Oh, right! _Commander Briefs_ is showing now!"

"That's right, son, so let's get going," Membrane opened the garage door and stepped into the family car. "Hurry now, Gaz! We have less than twenty minutes to get there before the film starts!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Gaz grumbled as she walked down the porch steps. "I wanted to see _Piggy Bloodsucker_ _II_."

* * *

During the entire time the Membrane family was at the movies, a mysterious figure opened the front door, which was conveniently unlocked, and crept into the empty house.

He made his way up the stairs and into Dib's bedroom, where he searching through all the drawers. When he couldn't find the evidence that he needed, he moved on to Dib's closet. It had a security handprint scanner, but he had a special hacking device of his own, courtesy of the federal government. He pointed it at the scanner and immediately the doors slid open. But all he found were clothes and useless junk.

He then decided to search under the bed, but he accidentally bumped into a drawer and in the process, a frame with a single Blue Morpho butterfly inside fell to the floor. The glass shattered and the butterfly's wings popped off its body.

"Oh, cripes!" the stranger cursed under his breath as he bent down to try to clean up the mess, but it was a little more difficult to do with just one arm as his other one was in a cast. From the corner of his eye he noticed something shiny under the bed and immediately stopped what he was doing.

He reached his good arm under there and pulled out a metal tin box. He carefully removed the lid and inside were photos of strange paranormal creatures that Dib had apparently taken. One of them was a photo of Bigfoot standing in a garage and...using a belt sander?

Intrigued, he took a few photos and stuffed them into his pocket. Technically, it _was_ stealing, but he was a government agent so he could get away it. As he searched through the photos some more, he uncovered a disk that was buried under the pile. He studied it in his hand and put it in the pocket of his trench coat. Whatever data that was stored in that disk must've been important. Or at least he hoped so.

Seeing that there was nothing else in the room to search through, he put the lid back on the tin box and slid it under the bed. As he quickly left the room, he accidentally stepped on the butterfly, completely crushing its body and destroying its beautiful metallic blue wings with his foot.

...

"Man, that movie was hilarious!" Dib laughed as he and his family walked in through the front door a few hours later.

"It was an amusing film, I must admit," Professor Membrane agreed as he went straight to his lab downstairs to resume his work.

"Are you kidding? That movie sucked," Gaz bluntly told him as the two went upstairs.

"You think everything sucks, Gaz," Dib retorted.

The two went into their separate bedrooms, and of course the first thing Dib noticed in his room was the destroyed butterfly frame on the floor.

"Wha-? OH, _NOOOOO_ _!_ " he wailed as he dropped to his knees and gathered up the pieces of the ruined wings, gingerly holding them in his hands. The window was shut so it couldn't have been the wind that knocked it over. His dismay quickly turned into anger when he figured out who was behind all this.

"Gaz, stay out of my room!" he yelled.

"I NEVER WENT INTO YOUR ROOM!" Gaz yelled back from inside her room.

"Then who destroyed my butterfly frame?!"

"I NEVER TOUCHED YOUR STUPID BUTTERFLY!"

"Well, it couldn't have been Bigfoot or ghost gerbils!"

"DO YOU WANT ME TO DESTROY YOU?!"

"..." Knowing better than to provoke the wrath of his sister, he stopped yelling and sat on the edge of the bed, somberly looked down at what was left of his beautiful butterfly.

* * *

 _Click_

 _Click_

 _Click_

Agent Spider sighed as he continued to click on the mouse. "This is ridiculous," he murmured as he took a sip of his coffee. Next to him the trash pin was overflowing with empty coffee cups.

He sat at his computer desk back at the hotel and had spent the last two hours looking at the pictures that were stored in Dib's disk. There was a total of 678 pictures and he only had three left to go, but so far, he hadn't found a photo of the alien that Dib was hiding from him. The other 675 were mostly of Dib and his family, and in one of those photos, there was a cute little puppy. But he didn't recall seeing a dog in that house.

The last two photos were of Dib with his father and sister on the beach. But when he clicked on the very last photo, Spider's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He even let go of the coffee cup in shock and its contents spilled all over the carpet.

The corners of his mouth slowly lifted into a devilish grin as he continued to stare at the evidence that he had been searching for.

It was a photo of the green kid Zim without his disguise. He was hunched over and looking up at the photographer, presumably Dib, in surprise with his big ruby bug eyes like he had been caught.

"Well, well, well," Spider chuckled darkly. "Looks the cat's out of the bag. Or should I say, the alien's out of the space pod?" He frowned when he realized what he had just said. "No, that's just stupid."

 **Oh, no! :0**

 **So lemme explain the story behind the photo. Remember in the episode "NanoZIM" when Dib took a picture of Zim from the ceiling and planned to mail the disk to Mysterious Mysteries? Then Zim shrinks himself and goes inside Dib's head, where he deletes his memory of where he put the disk? That's the same photo in this story. Hope this info helped.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi, everyone! Sorry I'm late! I'm actually moving to a new house in five weeks so a lot of crap has to be done... :/**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 **This chapter is short, but dramatic. :)**

"So Zim's gone? For good?" Gaz looked up from her game for a split second and over at her brother, who sat next to him on the couch.

Dib could hear the hopeful tone in her voice and glared at her annoyed. "No, Gaz," he sternly said. "He just went to go save another Irken from impending doom. He'll be back soon." He swallowed, feeling a little afraid for his short green friend. "Or at least I hope so."

Gaz raised an eyebrow and snorted, still looking down at her game. "'Save another Irken from impending doom'? Seriously? First he became a tree hugger, and now he's a hero?"

Dib couldn't help but grin. "I know, right? Hard to believe that this is Zim we're talking about."

"Not to burst your bubble, but how do you know that Zim won't, like, snap and try to take over the world again?"

He looked at her surprised and slightly offended. "What do you mean? You really think Zim would destroy everything he's accomplished and go back to a barbarian? He's got a good life now. Why would we give all of that up?"

"I dunno," Gaz mumbled. "'Cause he's dumb like you."

Now Dib was starting to lose his patience with his sister and turned in his seat to directly face her. "Zim's _not_ dumb. Sure, he's a bit naive and doesn't listen sometimes, but he's extremely smart. And you know something else, Gaz? You really-"

Gaz whipped her head toward him and there was an unholy flame in her eyes that petrified him. And Dib could see and feel the dark aura that was emitting from her small body. "I really _what?_ " her voice dripped with venom, making her appear even more demonic.

The boy gulped and jumped off the couch, making a beeline for the stairs. "Nothingloveyoubye!" he shouted as he ran upstairs. He sprinted into his room and slammed the door shut behind him. He was safe from his sister's terrible wrath...for now.

Sighing in relief, he plopped down on the bed and looked up at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on his ceiling that he got for his birthday. He let out a softer, more melancholic sigh as he thought about Zim. He already missed the loud and obnoxious green jerkass who had a heart of gold. Well, maybe not gold. Pyrite at best.

He had plans for when Zim got back. They could explode the world and visit every country and see every culture that was out there. And then, maybe someday, they could go out _there_ and explore the rest of the galaxy and even universe. That would be quite the adventure.

Dib chuckled softly to himself as he reflected on his history with Zim. They started out as bitter enemies that hated each other's guts to the fullest. Until a month ago, they never realized just how much they had in common. The two were both outcasts, hated and ridiculed by their own kind. If Zim wasn't a power-hungry, egotistical, maniacal and sadistic jerk in the beginning, they probably would had become friends a long time ago.

He reached over to grab a book that was on the drawer, a book on Galileo, another misunderstood genius like himself. But as he opened it, he noticed the due date that was stamped onto the checkout card and his eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. "Holy cow! This book is a _way_ overdue!"

...

"That's it," he mumbled as he exited the library in a huff. "From now on, I'm reading on the N-ternet." The late fee for that book was the amount of his allowance for the week. It was a good thing that the librarian took pity on him and decided to make him pay with cash instead of confiscating his retinas for a month.

Two of his classmates, Zita and Rob, rudely pushed past him as they walked by.

"Yuck," Zita mumbled as she brushed her arm. "I've got Dib-germs now."

Rob chuckled cruelly. "Yeah, now you'll catch his crazy."

Zita crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue as she twirled her finger next to her head. "Duh, I'm cra-zy like Dib!" she said in a deep voice.

Dib watched them leave with a bemused expression. So he was back to being the unpopular weird kid. Maybe he should had let Zim commanded his spider bots to eat their brains like he suggested.

Nah. That would be too cruel.

"Be the better person, Dib," he muttered to himself. "Be the better person."

Just then he spotted something shiny on the pavement, and upon closer observation, he realized that it was a penny.

"Huh, a lucky penny," Dib grinned as he bent down to pick it up. "This could be my lucky day." He held the coin in between his thumb and finger and was about to put it in his pocket when...

"OW!"

Something sharp pricked his thumb and he dropped the penny. The coin landed on the ground with the tails side facing upward. But there was something else on that side: a tiny spike.

"What...the...?" Suddenly Dib began to feel dizzy and numb inside his mouth. His legs became like noodles and he felt flat on his face. From the corner of his eye, he saw a blurry figure hurry over to where he lay. Hopefully it was someone who was coming to help.

He felt a hand lift him off the ground, and the last thing he saw before passing out was the pavement as he was being carried away.

...

"...nrrg...ugh..."

Dib fluttered his eyes open and he found himself in some very dark room, with a hanging light shining down upon him. He tried to move his arms, but they were chained to the metal chair that he was sitting on.

Dread filled his heart as he realized that he had just been kidnapped.

"Wh...What's going on...?" Dib whispered fearfully.

"Don't worry, Dib," a male voice spoke to him in the darkness. "You're not in any real danger...yet."

Dib's eyes widened. He knew that voice. "Agent Spider? Where am I?"

"Where no one will ever find us," Spider's voice sounded dark and creepy. "Fertile, Iowa."

Dib gulped and nervously fidgeted in his chair. "What...What's this all about?"

"You _know_ what this all about, Dib." Spider stepped into the light on Dib's right. His left arm was in a cast and he wore his dark sunglasses, which gave him a menacing look. He gripped the back of the chair and leaned in close to Dib's face. "I want your little alien friend."

Of course, Dib tried to play dumb for Zim's sake. "Who? You mean Zim? Look I told you, he's not an alien. He just has this-"

"Skin condition?" Spider finished, giving the boy a lopsided grin. "Right." He straightened up and cleared his throat, then reached for something under his trench coat. Dib's heart started to pound like crazy, thinking that the government agent was about to murder him.

"By the way, Dib, have you ever considered a career in photography?"

Dib blinked. "Huh?"

Spider pulled out some photos and flipped through them. "'Because these are some pretty good pictures." He snickered as he held one out in front of Dib's face. "This is a nice one of your sister Gas."

"You mean Gaz" Dib corrected him.

"Yeah, whatever." Spider picked out another photo and showed it to Dib. It was a snapshot of him and his family on the beach. "This is another good one. But my favorite is definitely _this_ one."

To Dib's absolute horror, Spider was now holding a photo of Zim without his disguise. He remembered when he took that one, but he couldn't remember where he hid it. That was because shortly after he took Zim's picture, the alien shrunk himself to microscopic size and went inside his head, where he drained all memory of where he hid the disk that contained that photo.

"You...you searched my-my room?" Dib stuttered, finding it hard to believe that this was really happening.

Spider smirked wickedly and nodded. "Yep. So what's your excuse this time, Dib? Zim was in a Halloween costume? Or maybe he had a bad haircut and just also happened to have a very bad case of pink eye on that same day?"

Dib couldn't speak. He couldn't even breathe. He was trapped.

And Spider knew it, too. He tapped Dib lightly on the forehead with the photos. "Face it, Dib. You've been caught in the Spider's web. You might as well fess up, because lying won't get you out of this one."

Dib began to sweat profusely, and he bit his lower lip so hard that it started to bleed a little. Spider was right: he was out of excuses. Believable ones, anyway.

So he might as well tell the truth.

He sucked in a deep breathe and glared up at Spider defiantly. "Okay, fine. It's true, Zim is an alien. But I'll just tell everyone that I photoshopped that to make Zim look like an alien in a pathetic attempt to get everyone to finally believe me." He smiled smugly. "How are you gonna beat _that_?"

"Hmmmm," Spider raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin in thought. "You make a very good argument there, Dib. BUT...let me ask you this: between a respected government official and a big-headed nutjob, who are they gonna believe?"

Spider had a good point. Pretty much everyone except the conspiracists and freethinkers believe anything the government says, and they would dismiss anything Dib said as nonsense.

"Well, okay, you got me there," Dib begrudgingly admitted before straightening up in his chair. "But you're too late, anyway. Zim left the planet yesterday."

Spider furrowed his brows. "You lie," he growled.

Dib smirked and shook his head. "Nope. It's the truth. He's probably lightyears away from us by now. Too bad. There goes your alien, Spider."

He exprected the government man to blow a fuse, but to his surprise, Spider merely chuckled and pulled out his cellular phone. "You think so, huh?"

For some reason, Dib got a bad feeling in his gut about this.

He put the phone to his ear and waited patiently for someone to answer. Finally a click was heard on the other line and someone spoke to him in a incoherent garbled voice. "Hello, sir? Agent Spider. No, not Spider monkey. Just Spider. Yes, sir. I'm calling to let you know that I've captured a live alien. Yes, sir, you've heard me right. Yes, sir, right away." He hung up and smiled at Dib in a way that sent chills down the boy's spine.

"What-What just happened?" Dib nervously asked. "I just told you that Zim's gone."

"I know," Spider nodded. "But I promised the guys back at Washington that I'd bring them an alien, and that's precisely what I'm going to do."

"But where are you gonna find an alien?" Dib knew that he would regret asking, but he just had to know.

"I've already found one," Spider pointed at the bound boy. "And he's right here in this very room."

 _What?_

"...WHAT?!" Dib yelled. "Are you NUTS?! I'm not an alien!"

"I know," Spider calmly said, a creepy smile still plastered on his face. "But they won't know that. At least, not until after they've cut you open on the autopsy table."

Dib's face blanched. "You...you're insane! You can't just say that I'm an alien, even if you are a government agent! You'll need proof and pieces of evidence to back up your claim! As a paranormal investigator, you should know that!"

"Of course I do, and I've got plenty of proof."

"You...you do?"

"Sure. Your obsession with aliens is suspicious enough, your room is filled with advanced technology second only to that in possession of the government, you have an abnormally large head..."

"Hey! My head's not-!"

"...and most importantly, you have a space ship in your _garage_."

"...Oh." _Crud. He found Tak's ship._ "Uh, actually, that's not _my_ ship. Really."

"Sure it isn't. And therefore, I have more than enough evidence to take you in."

"But...But if they cut me up, I'll _die_! Besides, my Dad will noticed that I'm missing!"

Spider wasn't at all fazed. "True. But hey, it would be an honest mistake. And we'll just replace you with a clone should you die on the table. Happens all the time."

The way he said that so casually made Dib's skin crawl. _Happens all the time?_ He was never going to trust another governmental official ever again after this. "Wh-Why are you doing this?" he whimpered. "What could you possibly hope to gain?"

Spider removed his sunglasses, and his cold blue eyes stared straight into Dib's brown eyes. "I can tell that you care an awful lot for this alien, Dib. And if he cares about you, too, he'll come to your rescue. And when he does come, we'll be ready for him."

Dib's eyes became large. "Wait...so this is all a trap?"

Spider nodded. "And you'd better pray that he comes in time, Dib. Because _someone_ has to be on the autopsy table."

Dib felt his heart drop to his stomach. _Oh_ _no...Zim, please..._ please _don't come back._

 **Oh, no... :(**

 **Told ya it would be dramatic.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hi, everyone! Sorry that's it's been so long. Over a month...sheesh.**

 **I've been BUSY!** **Work, moving, graduation, Mother's Day, work...oh wait, I already said "work". My job sucks.**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

"I can't believe we're doing this," Zim grumbled as the Voot Cruiser zoomed through another glaxay. GIR was humming happily next to Zim as he listened to an upbeat pop song on the radio while Skoodge sat behind him in the back of the ship, muching on some blackberries that Zim brought with him.

"Cheer up, Zim," Skoodge said merrily as he plopped another berry into his mouth and chewed. "You'll feel better about yourself after this is all over. Even if we get killed and fail to save Tenn, we'll still be heroes."

"If we do end up dead," Zim turned around and glared at the fatter Irken, "I'm going to kill you."

Skoodge blinked in confusion and stopped chewing. "Uh, what? That doesn't make sense."

"I don't care if it doesn't make sense!" Zim yelled angrily. "Just try not to get us killed and stick to the plan!"

"We're here!" GIR happily announced.

"Eh?" Zim turned his attention back to the window. They were approaching a very large planet that glowed a brilliant blue color, no doubt the homeworld of the Meekrob. "Oh, good. Our rescue mission begins now."

"Yay! We're gonna die!" GIR cheered.

Suddenly, the transmitter on the control panel began to beep. "Everyone, be quiet!" Zim shouted. "We're receiving a transmission from them!" He pushed the button to accept the call and cleared his throat. "'Ello!" he spoke with a fake heavy British accent. "This is Zyro from Sector D-4!"

 _Zyro? s_ omeone answered on the transmitter. _The registered sex offender?_

Zim's eyes bugged out and he began to sweat. He was not expecting this. "Uh..." his voice cracked for a second. "Y-Yes, the uh...what you said."

"What's a sex offender?" GIR innocently asked.

Skoodge quickly put his hand over the robot's mouth, but the person on the other line already heard him. _Who is there with you?_

"Oh, that is just my colleague, uh...Boot-toot," Zim said with nervous laugh.

 _"Boot-toot?" Never heard of-_

"AND we have another Irken prisoner! The Irken Empire secretly sent him to rescue the other prisoner, Invader Tenn. But we caught him, and we are bringing him in now!"

 _Really?_ the voice sounded pleasantly surprised. _Good work, Zyro! You've redeemed yourself today. We'll meet you and Boot-toot down at the station._

Everyone let out a sigh of relief once the transmission ended. "Whew!" Zim wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. "That was a close one. Now quickly, GIR, get your disguise on."

"My name is...hee hee...Boot-toot!" GIR giggled.

...

A small crowd of Meekrob gathered around the spaceship dock as the Voot Cruiser landed. Air came hissing out as the window slid open, and the first one to step out was Skoodge, who was in cuffs. Zim and GIR followed, both of them draped in white sheets with eye holes cut into them. Thanks to Zim's glow sticks and GIR's lights, their sheets had a blue glow to them, giving them a somewhat Meekrob appearance.

Well, not really.

Zim did have a holographic projection device that could give them much better and more accurate disguises, but Skoodge accidentally sat on it one day. So all they had to work with were regular bed sheets.

But surprisingly (then again unsurprisingly), the Meekrob bought it and gave them a warm welcome.

One of them floated forward and circled around Skoodge. "So...you thought you could sneak past us and rescue your comrade?" he said in a cold chilling voice. "Ha! When will you Irkens ever learn?"

Skoodge put on a brave, angry face. "You think I'm afraid of you blobs?! When I get out of these cuffs, I'm gonna squeeze the jelly right out of your-"

Zim slapped him on the back of his head hard. "Silence, prisoner!" he shouted with a fake accent.

The fat Irken looked at him with eyes full of hurt. "Owww, Zim," he whined. "That really hurt."

But Zim slapped him again. "Shush!" he whispered harshly in his normal voice.

"Slap da monkey!" GIR squealed as he slapped Skoodge on the butt, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Ooh, that looks fun!" the Meekrob said. "Let me have a go at it!" He formed an ectoplasmic hand and slapped Skoodge across the cheek. "Ha ha! Splendid!"

Skoodge's eye twitched and his cheek burned as it became red.

"Okay, that's enough slapping for the day," Zim grabbed Skoodge by the arm and started to drag him away. "I'll just take the Irken scum to the correctional facility."

"Now wait just a moment!"

They all stopped dead in their tracks as the Meekrob floated after them. Zim gulped nervously as he turned around along with the rest. "Um, yes?"

"You're going the wrong way," the Meekrob pointed in the opposite direction with his tentacle. "It's over there, next to the coffee shop and art studio."

A dark and gloomy eight-story building towered over two smaller ones, the more cheerful coffee shop which had a smiley face as its logo, and the fancy art studio.

"Oh, yes, of course," Zim chuckled nervously as they walked past the Meekrob. "Thank you."

"Wait!"

The Meekrob stopped them once again, and Zim rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath. What now?

"Just once more," the Meekrob said right before he slapped Skoodge on the cheek once again. He laughed and waved them off as he left to rejoin his group. "Okay, you may go."

Skoodge began to tear up, his cheek now burning. "Man, Meekrob are mean," he said with a sniffle.

* * *

Getting into the the prison was easy enough. Thanks to their not-so-clever disguises, the guards allowed them to walk right in. Once they were away from the prying eyes of the Meekrob, Zim and GIR discarded their bed sheets. Staring at them from behind the glass doors of their cells were hundreds of aliens, a variety of species, from Vortians to Rat people. But Invader Tenn had been deemed a public enemy and was therefore placed in a maximum security cell, which was on the very top floor.

"Awwww...he looks so lonely in there," GIR walked over to one of the doors and tapped on the glass. The one-eyed, red-skinned, pointy-eared alien stared at the robot for a moment, before he let out a blood-chilling scream that nearly made Skoodge and Zim jump out of their skins.

"GIR!" Zim ran over to him and pulled him away from the door. "Are you trying to make a scene?!"

GIR paused before nodding his head. "Yep!"

"Heyyyyyyy!"

Everyone turned to see a blue Vortian pressing his face against the glass of his door. He stared at them with his tiny green dots of eyes. "What are you guys doing here?!" he screeched. Zim's antennas twitched in pain. Was this Vortian deaf or something?

"Shhhh! Please!" Skoodge pleaded. "We're on a rescue mission!"

"Are you here to rescue that Irken chick?!" the Vortian screamed even louder.

"Silence, Vortian!" Zim marched right up to the cell and held up a threatening fist. "Or face my iron fist of fury and pain!"

"Your what?!" the Vortian tilted his head. "Hey, could you guys bust me outta here, too?!"

"Yeah!" GIR said, eagerly tugging at Zim's arm. "Let him join the party!"

Zim merely scoffed. "Why should we rescue you? What could _you_ possibly contribute to our team?"

"I'm a Vortian scientist, you know! I can build you stuff and uh...build you even more stuff! Pleeease! Pleeeeeeeee-!"

"Okay, okay, fine! Just stop your infernal shouting!" Zim rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "As soon as we rescue the Irken, we'll come back for you."

The Vortian looked at him with a worried expression. "You promise?!"

"Yes, yes! Now let's get going! We're wasting time!" Zim dragged GIR and Skoodge with him to the elevator. They all stepped inside and Zim pressed the button to take them to the top floor.

"Hey, Zim? Could you get these cuffs off?" Skoodge held his bound wrists out. "They're starting to give me a rash." Once Zim removed them, Skoodge sighed in relief and rubbed his itching wrists. "Hey, are we really gonna bust that Vortian out of jail?"

"No," Zim answered, impatiently tapping his foot.

"But you promised-"

"We're here to rescue Tenn and that's it. Got it?"

"...Got it."

Dirty, explicit rap music played through the speakers as they slowly went up. Zim covered GIR's antenna (which was his "ear"), while Skoodge nodded his head to the rhyme. "I like this elevator music," he said with a smile.

Once they got to the top, the doors slid open...to reveal thousands of SIR units crawling all over the room like insects. They all babbled incoherently and giggled like hyperactive children. Many of them were latched onto a cage that hovered in the air, banging their heads against the bars and dancing around on the top.

Curled up in a ball and trembling in fear, Invader Tenn lifted her head from under her arms and her ruby eyes widened in surprise when she saw her rescuers.

"Invader Tenn!" Skoodge shouted. He was about to run out of the elevator but Zim quickly grabbed him by the coller of his tunic.

All of the SIRs turned their heads toward the trio, staring blankly at them with their glowing red eyes. "PLAY!" they suddenly shouted in unison, crawling and swarming towards them.

Zim and Skoodge screamed in terror and frantically pushed the button to close the doors. Luckily they shut right before the crazy, malfunctioning robots could get in. The impact of their bodies hitting the metal doors left large dents.

"Hoo boy," Skoodge sighed as he leaned against the wall. "We did not prepare for this. What are we gonna do now, Zim?"

Said Irken sat down on the floor and rubbed his chin as he tried to think of a solution to this predicament. Indeed they were not prepared for this. He could see now why an experienced and gifted Invader such as Tenn couldn't escape from the facility. Nothing is more dangerous than malfunctioning SIR units. They were unpredictable, unstable, un-

Zim's antenna went straight up as he came up an idea. He turned to GIR and smiled, who smiled back even though he didn't know why.

...

As the elevator doors slid open once again, GIR hopped out and waved at all the other robots with his tiny arms. "HIIIIIIIII, FRIENDS!" he yelled. The elevators quickly closed but not all the way, leaving a crack for Zim and Skoodge to peek through.

"HIIIIIII!" the SIRs yelled back, waving at him.

"LET'S PLAY A GAME!"

"YAAAAAAAY!" They all gathered around him in a large circle, giggling and chatting excitedly. The cage was now abandoned and Tenn sighed in relief. After nearly a year of being surrounded by crazed, deadly robots, she was finally left alone.

"Let's play 'Simon Says'!" GIR announced, earning him a loud cheer.

Zim and Skoodge watched through the crack and waited for the right moment to come out, holding their breaths.

"Simon sayyyyyyys...touch your eyeball!" GIR touched his left eye, and all of the SIRs did the same. "Okay, stop! Now Simon sayyyyys...spin your heads!" His head twirled round and round at top speed, and so did theirs. "Okay, stop! Simon sayyyys...hop on one leg!" They all bounced up and down on their right legs.

Inside the elevator, Zim grumbled as he was growing impatient. "Come on, GIR, say it already...!"

As though he had heard his master, GIR stopped hopping. "Okay! Simon sayyyyys...EXPLODE!" he shouted with a big smile.

The SIR's stared at him for a moment before they all shouted in glee, "FINALLY!"

BOOM!

All at once, the robots disappeared in puffs of smoke, completely disintegrating. Only GIR was left standing, and Zim and Skoodge immediately ran out of the elevator.

"Good work, GIR!" Zim patted him on the top of his metal head. "I knew I could count on you!" GIR giggled and beamed at the praise he was receiving. "Now free Invader Tenn!"

GIR saluted his master and said in a serious voice, "Yes, sir!" before he lauched toward the cage using the jets in his feet. He crashed right through the bars and Tenn immediately backed away in fear.

"S-Stay back!" she yelled, hiding her face behind her arms and shaking like a leaf.

GIR tilted his head in confusion before he smiled at her. "Hiya! I'm...hee hee...Boot-toot!"

"GIR, we're done with that!" Zim called up to him from below.

"I like that name!" GIR whined. "I wanna be Boot-toot!"

"GIR-"

"BOOT-TOOT!"

"OKAY, FINE! WHATEVER! JUST GRAB HER ALREADY!"

"Yes, sir!" GIR ran over to Tenn and picked the Irken up, holding her over his head. Despite being small, GIR was incredibly strong and could pick up things five hundred times his own weight...at least.

Tenn immediately began to scream and squirm. "NO! NO! PUT ME DOWN!"

But GIR ignored her and jumped down from the cage with her in his arms. He landed on the ground with ease and put Tenn down. She ran away from the robot and hid behind Skoodge, wrapping her arms around his large frame and hiding her face in the back of his fat neck.

Feeling her arms around him and her hot breath on his skin...Skoodge couldn't understand why, but he wanted her to hold him like this forever. He didn't want to lose this strange new warmth that was in his chest. Without thinking, he slowly reached to touch the hand that was on his left rib...

"This is no time for hugs!" Zim abruptly interrupted the moment and ran to the elevator with GIR. "We need to leave _now_!"

Skoodge slowly and gently got out of her grip, turning to face her. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he was at a loss for words as he looked into her eyes. How could Irken eyes be any redder?

"HELLO?!" Zim's angry voice snapped him back to reality.

"Um, heh, ladies first," Skoodge smiled shyly at her and gestured to the elevator. Tenn paused before she stepped inside, staying as far away from GIR as possible. The robot, completely oblivious to her fear of him, only gave her a big friendly smile with his tongue sticking out.

* * *

Back at the station, Zim, GIR, and Tenn all sat in the Voot Cruiser, still waiting for Skoodge to arrive as they had been for the past fifteen minutes. The fat Irken claimed that he still had "something to do" back at the prison, although he didn't specify what.

"Something's wrong," Tenn softly said from the back of the ship. "Maybe we should go back?"

Zim sighed exasperatedly, impatiently tapping the control panel. "We'll give him three more minutes."

"O-Okay. Hey, Zim?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you rescue me? I-I mean, the Tallest, themselves, wouldn't come for me."

"Well, to tell you the truth," Zim leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "I could care less about what happens to you. Skoodge pretty much forced me to save you."

Tenn blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. I think he wants to mate with you or something."

"...Come again?"

BOOM!

A very loud explosion in the distance behind them shook the ground along with the ship. "What in...?!" Zim opened the window and peeked over the ship to see what the commotion was all about. His ruby eyes bugged out and his antenna flattened. "Oh, no."

The prison was now engulfed in flames and Skoodge was running toward the ship...with that loud Vortian following close behind.

"Nonononononono! NO! Absolutely not!" Zim shook his head and wagged his finger at them. "We are NOT bringing him with us!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure!" Skoodge dismissed him and hopped into the ship with the Vortian. "Step on it! They'll be coming after us!"

"Of all the-!" Zim growled and pulled at his antenna in frustration. "Fine! Let's just go already!" He started the ship and they took off at full speed. As they were leaving the planet's atmosphere, the radar began to beep at an alarming rate. Seven to eight green dots, which indicated enemy ships, were headed straight toward them. "They're right on our tail!" Zim turned around to glare at Skoodge, who smiled sheepishly. "You just had to rescue him too, didn't you?" he hissed as he pointed to the Vortian.

"Well...you _did_ promise," Skoodge pointed out meekly.

"Yeah, you did!" the Vortian yelled, slapping Skoodge on back in a friendly matter. "Your friend's a good person, ya know that?!"

"He's a _moron_!" Zim growled before turning to his robot servant. "GIR, quickly! We-"

GIR pouted and glanced away as he crossed his arms.

Zim sighed heavily and shook his head. "Boot-toot."

The robot immediately stood at attention and salutated him as his eyes glowed red. "Yes, sir?"

"Bring out the cloak!"

"Yes, my master!"

"Don't you mean, 'cloaking device'?" Tenn asked nervously. "You do have a cloaking device, right?"

"Nope," Zim replied.

GIR pulled a nearly folded sheet with crater prints from out of a drawer. "Time to play hide-and-seek!"

...

The Meekrob ships followed the signal to an asteroid belt, but they couldn't find the Voot Cruiser anywhere.

"Do you see them, Dek?" a Meekrob pilot spoke to another ship through a transmitter.

 _No, sir, I do not. You think perhaps the asteroids destroyed their ship?_

"Hmmm...perhaps, because there's simply no cloaking device that could ever hide them from us. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find their limbs and have a little bonfire. That would be fun. Let's head on back home, then."

The ships turned around and roared as they sped away, and once they were out of sight, one of the asteroids suddenly began to wobble. Actually, it was the large cloak that covered the entire Cruiser.

GIR stood on top of the ship with the cloak flowing in his hand. "Bye bye, jellyfish guys!" he waved in the direction the Meekrob went.

Inside the ship, Skoodge sighed in relief. "Wow. That was a close one. So where will we be going now, Zim? Back to Earth?"

Zim didn't answer and only drove the ship out of the asteroid belt.

...

"Planet Dirt?" Tenn looked around at said planet's monstrous landfills with disgust as they landed. "What are we doing here?"

The front window slid open and Zim stood up in his seat, facing the others. "Well, Invader Tenn, we have freed you from planet Meekrob and our business with you is therefore finished. Have a nice life on _this_ planet." He waved his hands to shoo her away. "Go on now. Get out of my ship." He turned to the Vortian. "You, too, uh...whatever your name is."

"Boot-toot!" the Vortian shouted.

"...Eh?"

"That's my name! Boot-toot! That robot and I have the same name, which is really cool!"

GIR gasped out loud and squealed in delight, giving the Vortian a big hug. "We brothers!"

"His name is not really..." Zim did a facepalm and shook his head. "Just-eh-whatever! Get out of my ship, both of you!"

"What'd I do?" GIR whined, giving Zim the sad puppy dog eyes.

"Not you, GIR. Tenn and that Boot-toot guy."

Tenn looked up at Zim horrified. "Now wait, can't we talk about this first? What am I supposed to do on a planet made of nothing but garbage?"

Zim shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure you could build a house out of used paper cups or something. GIR here is actually made of garbage and he turned out okay...sorta."

"Zim, wait," Skoodge stood up. "Are we really gonna through with this? We went through so much to get Tenn out of there. We can't just toss her into the garbage, literally."

"Skoodge, we are _done_ here," Zim said through gritted teeth.

Skoodge narrowed his eyes in anger and shook his head. "No, Zim, we're _not_ done. We could bring Tenn and Boot-toot with us to Earth. They could help us keep the planet clean and regrow plants and trees at a much faster rate. After all, four heads are better than two."

"Hey!" GIR gave him a pouty look.

"Oh, sorry, I mean, five heads are better than three." Skoodge gave Zim a small smile and touched his shoulder. "Come on, Zim. Just give Tenn a chance. If you can teach me how to appreciate nature, then you can teach her. So...what do you say?"

Zim just stared at him for a moment, his expression hard to interpret.

...

"I can't believe he dumped me here on this filthy planet," Skoodge grumbled, kicking an empty soda can away. "Jerk."

Tenn sat on a cardboard box with her chin resting in her hands while Boot-toot searched through a crashed, bent up Voot Cruiser, looking for spare parts and wires.

"I think I have enough parts to make a toaster!" the Vortian announced happily as he poked his head through the broken window. "And we can have molded French toast for breakfast!"

Tenn groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "I should've stayed on Meekrob."

...

"I miss Skoodge," GIR sniffled as he looked out the window. He felt his master's hand rub his head.

"We'll come back for him, GIR," Zim softly assured him. "In a couple of years. Now cheer up. At least you still have Dib to play with back on Earth."

GIR instantly perked up. "Yeah! I really missed Mary!"

Zim chuckled and fondly patted his robot. "Yes, well, I'm sure he's missed us as well. I wondering how he's doing at this moment?"

 **Oh, Zim. If you only knew... :(**

 **Before you freak out about Skoodge being abandoned on Planet Dirt, don't worry. There's a reason why he's there, along with Tenn and Boot-toot.**

 **That's such a fun name. Boot-toot. Hee hee! X)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Please, please, PLEASE don't kill me. That's all I'm going to say.**

 **NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.**

 _"Daddy! Look at the butterflies! Lookit!"_

 _Three-year-old Dib Membrane squealed in excitement at the brightly-colored winged insects that fluttered above his head. It was his very first time at the butterfly house and he was having so much fun he could hardly stand it._

 _"Daddy, you looking?!" He turned to Professor Membrane, who was talking to an employee with his lab telegoggles._

 _"And I'm warning you," he sternly said to the lab assistant, "if you get the mixtures wrong again..."_

 _Frowning, Dib turned to his baby sister, who sat in a stroller sucking on a pacifier. "Hey, Gaz!" he said with a smile, "you liking the butterflies? Aren't they pretty?"_ _Gaz looked at him with the usual angry expression before spitting her pacifier at him. It bounced off his forehead and he sighed in defeat as he walked away._

 _He turned his attention back to the butterflies and chased after them. Within inches of his grasp, they would fly away. He wanted so badly to hold one or at least touch its beautiful wings, but even they seemed to ignore him._

 _At one point, he tripped and fell flat on his face. When he slowly raised his head, the lenses in his glasses were cracked and his cheeks hurt. Even as he started to cry, none of the other kids or even the adults rushed to help him._

 _He was alone in the world._

 _Then all of a sudden, as if to see if he was okay, a Blue Morpho fluttered down to where he lay and landed right on the tip of his nose. He was pleasantly surprised and giggled at the tickling sensation. That was the very first time that he felt acknowledged by someone, even if that certain "someone" was just a bug, and it made him feel good and warm inside._

 _Perhaps one day, he will make a friend and not have to be so lonely anymore._

...

Zim had never been more happier to see the blinking skyscrapers of the city as they descended through the dark pink clouds. Of course he wasn't all that thrilled to be reunited with the cancer of the Earth that was humanity, but one human out of all of them was worth it. He was sure that Dib would bombard him with questions about the rescue mission (one of them being where was Skoodge, possibly), but the boy would be estatic to see his friends again. His only friends, actually.

The first stop was his base, of course, where he parked his ship under his rooftop. GIR slept during the last two hours of the trip back home so he set the tired robot on the couch. After that, he put on his disguise and left to go pay Dib a surprise and give him that space rock that he wanted. Zim chuckled as he imagined the look on Dib's face once he saw the gift.

Once he got to Dib's front door, he rang the doorbell and eagerly waited for that familiar face to greet him. But instead he got Dib's angry and scary little sister. "Oh, hey, Zim," she said nonchalantly.

"Hey," Zim said a bit uneasily as he scratched his chin. "Is, uh, Dib home?"

"Uh-uh," Gaz shook her head as she opened a can of soda. "He's at Space Camp."

"Eh?" Zim raised an eye ridge. "Space Camp? But we haven't been gone that long."

"Yeah, well, the mailman said that you were supposed to get a postcard from him," she took a sip of her drink. "It should be in your mailbox by now."

Zim scratched his head in confusion. "Okaaaay..."

"Yeah, I know, it's all of a sudden, but...whatever." With that, Gaz slammed the door in Zim's face.

...

When he checked his mailbox, the postcard was in there just as Gaz said it would be. It seemed simple enough; on one side was a picture of the camp where Dib supposedly was, and on the other was a note written in blue ink.

 _Dear Zim,_

 _I'm having a great time here at Space Camp! I'll be back in a few weeks! Wish were you here!_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Dib_

Zim read the postcard over and over again as he sat at his desk. Before they left, Dib never once mentioned this camp to him. And this handwriting couldn't have been his; Dib's penmanship was much more neatly, and the writing on the postcard seemed sloppy and rushed.

He decided to put this piece of paper on a scanner. If it did come from Dib, then it should have his fingerprints on it. And he knew all too well what Dib's fingerprints looked like from all the times he tried to sneak into his base.

"Computer! Run a scan on this postcard! Search for any fingerprints!" He slid the postcard into the slot of a machine, and after ten seconds of whirring and beeping, the Computer displayed the results. There were indeed fingerprints on both sides, but he didn't recognize any of them.

 _ **Sir? I found something else. A hidden message written in invisible ink.**_

"Display it at once, Computer!"

The hidden message immediately lit up in blue on the note side. In big, capitalized words, it read:

ALIEN KNOWN AS ZIM, WE HAVE YOUR BIG-HEADED FRIEND DIB MEMBRANE. UNLESS YOU SURRENDER YOURSELF TO US, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT HE WILL LEAVE HERE ALIVE. COME TO THIS ADDRESS BY MIDNIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT OR YOU'LL BOTH BE SORRY. AND IF YOU TRY TO SNEAK IN, WE'LL KNOW.

Written below the secret message in smaller words was the address where he was supposed to go, which was all the way in Washington, D.C. There was no doubt about it: he was now dealing with the Earth's government. And today was Friday, so he was running out of time.

He slumped back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling in disbelief. These people knew who he really was. But how long have they known? Could Dib have betrayed him...? No. No, their days of bitter rivalry were over. They were friends now. They trusted each other with their very own lives. The government must've figured out on their own or worse tortured it out of Dib.

The thought of his human friend in peril or getting hurt urged him to jump out of that chair and rush to the elevator that led to the top of the base. He didn't care that the place would be heavily secured. He didn't care if they might capture him and put him on the autopsy table like in his worst nightmares.

He just had to rescue the boy, because he wasn't about to lose another friend.

* * *

"Look, I'm telling you! I am NOT an alien!"

Scientists in goggles and white lab coats surrounded Dib with reading devices and tablets. He wore nothing but a white gown and was strapped down by the wrists and ankles to a cold metal table. So this is how the aliens at Area 51 felt as they were being dissected, helpless and afraid.

"That Spider guy is lying!" Dib continued to plead. "I'm just a regular kid!" Wow. He just sounded like that Sasquatch kid he harassed when he was nine.

The scientists ignored him and continued to converse amongst themselves. Could they not even hear him?

Now the tears were coming. "Please," he whimpered. "I'm not an alien. I just want to go home." A tear slid down his cheek. "I'm scared."

One of the scientists noticed him crying and gave him a sympathetic look. Dib smiled hopefully as he reached to undo the straps, but then his colleague slapped his hand away. "Stop, you fool! Don't you see what he's trying to do? He's trying to make us let our guard down by playing with our feelings! Remember, he is not what he seems."

Dib closed his eyes and suppressed a sob. Crying wasn't going to help things. All this happened because he got obsessed with the paranormal. Until now, he's always believed that it was his destiny to catch an alien and prove their existence to the world. But the truth was, it all started because he desperately wanted attention. Ever since he was three, he tried to get at least one person to acknowledge him since his own family wouldn't. And becoming an obsessed paranormal investigator and visionary certainly did give him the attention that he had always wanted, along with the things he didn't want like mockery, scorn, and even hatred.

The only good thing that ever came out of it was Zim, who had become his first and only true friend. And that's why he'd rather be the one dissected than to see Zim on the table in his place. No one else would miss him, anyway.

 _Please don't come for me, Zim._

...

From inside the monitor room, Spider and several other government agents supervised the operation and watched for any sign of the alien outside the facility. Armed guards, the best the government could buy, were placed at every exit to ensure that no one would get in or out.

The agent that operated the surveillance cameras turned to Spider. "Still no sign of the alien, sir."

Spider sipped the last bit of his coffee and grunted. "Oh, don't worry, he'll come. And when he does..." He crumpled the cup in his hand with a sinister grin. "...we'll be ready."

* * *

The sound of cheerful humming alarmed the two guards at the front entrance and they immediate pointed their guns in the direction of the sound. To their relief and slight embarrassment, a little cross-eyed girl with a huge head and golden locks skipped to them, holding a box of cookies in her hands. Her mouth was open, yet she did not move her lips as she spoke.

"Free Girl Scout cookies!" she said in a shrill, excited voice. "Have a box! Eat 'til you puke and then eat some more!"

"Oh, uh, thanks, sweetie," one of the guards, Phil, took the box from her. Then without saying another word, she sprinted into the woods and disappeared. "Sheesh, what a weird kid," Phil muttered as he opened the box and took a cookie.

"Phil, wait," the other guard, Simon, whispered harshly. "It could be poisoned."

Phil just snorted. "Please. They're Girl Scout cookies. You can trust the Girl Scouts. Plus, they're raisin cookies, my favorite!" He eagerly took a bite and crunched slowly, savoring the taste. Then all of a sudden, his eyes popped open and his pupils glowed green. He dropped the half-eaten cookie and just stood there in a trance.

"Uh...Phil?" Simon snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face. "You okay, bud?"

Phil blinked, but he still seemed out of it. "Huh? Oh. Oh, yeah, sure. I'm A-OK." He reached into the box and pulled out another cookie. "Here," he handed it out to Simon, a creepy smile on his face. "Have a cookie."

Simon looked down at the cookie suspiciously and shook his head. "Ehhhh, no thanks. I don't like-ACK!" He struggled to breathe as Phil suddenly grabbed him by the neck and shoved the cookie down his throat. After a few seconds of choking and writhing, Simon's eyes glowed green and he stopped struggling. Phil released him and they both headed toward the woods without saying another word to each other.

Once they got far away enough, Zim stepped out from behind a bush and faced the two men, who saluted him. "Ready for your orders, Master," Phil said.

Zim grunted in approval and nodded. He then turned GIR, who was taking off the Girl Scout disguise. "Good work, GIR," he praised the robot and patted him on the head. "Now I need you to fly back to the base and wait for us."

"I wanna come!" GIR whined. "I wanna give Mary a big hug!"

"No, no, GIR," Zim said softly. "Things are about to get ugly here. You can give Dib a hug when we come back. Understand?"

Okay," GIR sighed sadly, then perked up. "I'm gonna make muffins!" With the jets in his feet, he took off into the night sky and headed straight home.

Zim chuckled to himself as he watched his robot leave, then turned to the guards. "Now pay attention, humans. We are going to get Dib out of there, even if it costs us our lives. Well, hopefully, only _your_ lives. Now here's the plan..."

...

Spider's walkie-talkie beeped all of a sudden and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket. "Agent S-P here," he answered.

 _S-P, this is Minty-3,_ Phil's voice came through. _We've got him._

Spider's eyes widened in shock and he took his shades off. "Y-You mean...?"

 _Yes, sir. We've got the alien in custody._

The other agents in the room who heard him cheered and applauded, while Spider merely smiled triumphantly and nodded. "Just as I predicted," he mumbled to himself, then said out loud into the radio, "Good job. Bring him in here."

...

"UNHAND ME, YOU FILTHY, DISGUSTING HUMANS! YOU WILL RUE THE DAY YOU EVER MESSED WITH ZIIIIIMMMM!" Zim screamed and struggled to get out of the guards' grasps. They both held him by the arms and dragged him down the hall, stone-faced and totally focused.

Spider and three other agents rushed down the hall to meet them at the other end. Spider's smile got wider and his heart beat faster as they approached the captured alien.

Zim stopped fighting when he was finally face-to-face with the government agent and glared up at his with his antennae down.

"So...we finally meet," Spider said as he crossed his arms. "Actually, I believe we have met before, while you were parading around as an earless, noseless green 'normal' boy." He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Real clever."

Zim smirked. "Well, it seemed to work for a while. Your people are _that_ stupid."

" _Most_ people," Spider bent down to Zim's level. "But you really didn't expect to stay in hiding forever, did you?"

"No. In fact, I initially came here to conquer your planet."

Spider raised an eyebrow. "'Initially'? Am I to believe that you had a change of heart and decided that you love humans now?"

Zim narrowed his ruby eyes. "First of all, Irkens don't have hearts. We have a different type of blood-pumping organ. And second, I love this planet, but I despise humanity. The only human I can tolerate is Dib, and I demand that you release him immediately."

Spider nodded and stood back up. "You kept your end of the deal, and we will keep ours. And since I'm such a nice guy, I'll even allow you to say goodbye to him before we take you to the lab." He then turned to one of the agents behind him. "Go get him," he ordered. The agent nodded and hurried to the elevator.

"Let me guess, you're going to dissect me in this lab of yours?" Zim asked Spider, but there wasn't fear in his voice. In fact, it sounded a bit bored. "Lay me on a table and pull my organs out? How typical."

"No," Spider shook his head. "We're not like those scientists from _E.T._ We want your body and all its organs perfectly in tact. See what we really want..." He jabbed his finger into Zim's forehead, causing the alien to flinch. "...is all the data and information you've got stored up there. We want to know everything about your species and planet for in case there is an invasion."

Zim scoffed and gave him a lopsided grin. "Well, if you knew anything about Irken anatomy, then you wouldn't assume that all our knowledge is stored in our brains. It's in our Paks, the devices that are installed into our spines."

Spider rubbed his chin, intrigued. "Interesting. Then perhaps we should remove your Pak and hack into its systems. And then we could perseve your body in a giant tube, you know, like in that movie _Independence Day._ Have our own little 'freak show'." He and the two other agents laughed at his joke.

Zim just stared at them confused. He never saw any of these Earth movies that they were referencing.

Just then the elevator dinged and the third agent stepped out with Dib. The boy's eyes widened at the sight of his green friend being restrained by two guards. "ZIM!"

Zim's lit up when he saw Dib alive and unharmed. "Dib...!"

Dib tried to run to him but the agent roughly grabbed him the arm and held him back.

"Whatever you need to say to him, Dib, I'd suggest you say it now," Spider coldly said to him. "Because this will be the last you two will ever see each other again. Plus, we're erasing your memory before we return you home. You know, for security reasons and...stuff."

The agent dragged him toward Zim and the two friends stood a few feet away from each other. Dib tried to swallow away the tears but he failed to keep them in and they blurred his vision. "Zim," he softly said, "I'm so sorry. All this happened because of me. If I hadn't have taken that stupid photo-"

"No," Zim gently cut him off. "You were only trying to save your planet. If anyone is to blame, it's me."

Dib shut his eyes tight and shook his head. "This was never about Earth. I just wanted everyone to notice me, especially the big people. And yeah, I finally got their attention..." He lifted his head and looked at Zim with wet, red eyes. "...but I also lost my best friend."

"It'll be okay, Dib," Zim said with a warm smile. "You haven't lost me yet, and I'll get us out of this mess. You, uh, might wanna duck."

Dib blinked and furrowed his brow. "Huh? What do you-?"

 _"NOW!"_

In a blink of an eye, both Phil and Simon pulled out their handguns and fired all four agents. Dib yelped as he ducked and covered his head with his arms. Spider managed to avoid the oncoming bullets and roll to the safety of the elevator, while the other unfortunate agents were immediately gunned down. Dib about puked when he saw pools of blood forming around the agents' bodies.

Zim activated his spider legs and grabbed Dib, lifting him off the ground. "You two keep the Arachnid man distracted!" he ordered the guards as he swiftly moved down the hall.

Inside the elevator, Spider ducked as the bullets now went through the doors and he screamed into his walkie-talkie, "CODE GREEN! CODE GREEN! ALIEN ESCAPING FACILITY!"

When they got outside, Zim climbed up the building walls with Dib still clinging into him and reached the top. Just then the alarms went off inside the facility, which meant that reinforcements were on their way. The Irken quickly set Dib down, retracted his spider legs, and activated his communicator. "Ship!" he yelled into it. "Come pick us up! Now!"

"Wha-?! I-!" Dib gripped the sides of his head in shock and disbelief. "Did that really just happen?! Those guards... _really_ did shoot the agents?!"

"Well, _duh_ ," Zim mumbled with a bored expression.

"But why would-?!" He then realized what Zim had done and his face blanched. "Those guys were infected with your tiny robot spiders, weren't they?" When Zim nodded, he did a facepalm. "Great. We just committed murder."

"They were going to harm an innocent human boy just to lure an alien out of hiding," Zim retorted. "They got what was coming to them."

"I know, but still...killing someone..." Dib shuddered. "Even to save me...I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to you for saving my life. I mean, really grateful. In fact, you..." He looked at Zim with sad brown eyes. "You would've ended up on the autopsy table for me."

Zim merely shrugged. "Eh. Better me than you."

A fresh wave of tears came back as Dib realized that Zim wouldn't even think twice about sacrificing himself to save him. _Him_ , of all people. The Irken truly was his best friend. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Zim in a tight, brotherly hug and nuzzled the alien's cheek with his own.

Zim went rigid and his antennae went straight up. Again with the hugging. The affection was making him uncomfortable. He shoved Dib away and brushed his tunic. "Eeugh! Okay! I get it! You're grateful to Zim! Just...don't hug me..." His eyes trailed down Dib's gown. "...especially when you're not wearing any pants."

Dib only smiled and wiped his nose with the back of his arm. "Right, I forgot. Sorry."

At that moment, the Voot Cruiser came barreling through the woods and hovered near the top of the building. The window hissed as it slid open and a computerized voice said, _**Destination: Base.**_

Zim walked to the ledge and gestured for Dib to follow. "Come on, Dib. Let's go home."

Dib nodded and took a few steps forward...

...when a bright light suddenly came down on both of them and they could hear the whirring of helicopter blades. "HALT!" a man's voice screamed through a megaphone. "STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!"

Patrol cars and vans appeared and completely surrounded the building, and about thirty men aimed their guns and snipers at the two small figures on the rooftop. Spider came running out of the front entrance and snatched a megaphone from an officer. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be, alien!" he yelled to Zim. "Surrender and we'll let the kid go!" He then pulled out his walkie-talkie again. "S-P to Eagle-23, do you copy?"

The pilot in the helicopter answered, "Copy that, S-P. Your orders, sir?"

"Do not fire at the alien until I give the command," Spider ordered, his eyes never leaving the green figure at the top of the building.

Zim observed his surroundings and he started to sweat from all the stress. But the fear for his own life left when he glance over at Dib, who was looking up at the helicopter with squinted eyes. Getting him out of here was the priority. "Dib, get in the ship!"

The boy looked at him, the scythe in his hair flowing in the wind of the helicopter blades. "What?!" Perhaps he couldn't hear him over all the commotion.

"I SAID," Zim raised his voice, "GET IN THE SHIP! IT'S ME THEY WANT!"

Dib looked at the Cruiser then back at Zim, a determined look on his face. "No way, Zim! We're leaving together!" He grabbed Zim's hand and pulled the Irken with him as he ran to the ship. They both jumped in and the window instantly slammed down.

"NO!" Spider yelled. He couldn't afford to lose the alien! Not when he was so close! "Eagle-23! Fire at the ship!"

"But...sir..." the reluctant pilot looked down at the ship, his thumb over the button to fire the machine guns. "We'll hit the kid."

But Spider wouldn't hear it and only screamed louder into the radio. "FIRE AT THE SHIP! **NOW! _THAT'S AN ORDER!_** "

Although the pilot's morals would've prevented him from shooting a kid, he was still a soldier and he had his orders. He pressed his thumb down on the button and the built-in machine guns went off.

The deadly bullets ripped through the metal and window, causing severe damage. Dib screamed as he instinctively reached for Zim's arm, while the Irken yelled in pain as he felt the bullets hit him in the shoulder and leg. It felt like a thousand swords were stabbing at those particular spots. But the auto pilot was still functional and the Cruiser launched itself straight toward the firing helicopter.

The men down below watched in horror as the alien ship crashed right through the helicopter, which exploded into a ball of fire. The Cruiser continued to fly away, although it was smoking and spitting out sparks, which meant that it wouldn't go far.

Spider growled and shouted profanities as he ran to his Jaguar and hopped in. He put his foot down on the gas pedal with full force and the car screeched as it sped after the fleeing ship. For a moment he put the car on auto drive and reloaded his handgun. No matter what, he was going to bring an alien to his bosses, dead or alive.

* * *

Zim wasn't even aware that the ship was still going. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even open his eyes to see what was happening. All he could hear was a high-pitched ringing, and all he could feel was the unbearable pain of the bullet holes. He didn't even hear the alarms blaring as the Cruiser finally gave out and dropped out of the sky. He must've passed out before they hit the ground, because when he came to, they were in the middle of the woods and surrounded by burning and broken down trees.

The lights and screens in the control panel were off, which meant the whole thing was dead, and Zim could only imagine how bent up and mangled his Cruiser was. He looked down and saw Dib's hand still holding onto his arm.

Sighing softly and closing his eyes, he leaned back into his seat, feeling extremely weak from all the blood loss and pain. "Dib," he rasped, "forget about me. Save yourself. Leave Zim before the Arachnid man finds you."

He expected to hear protests or pleas for him to at least try to escape, but he heard nothing from the boy. Was he hurt?

"Dib?" Zim turned his head to look at him. Dib's head was facing away from him, but Zim became alarmed when he saw a bloody hole in his right temple. Did he get...?

Oh, dear Irk, _no_...

"Dib?!" Zim quickly got up out of his seat, the fatigue overwhelmed by his concern for his friend, and he carefully turned the boy's head. Dib's eyes were partially closed and blood came out of his mouth and spilled down his chin as he was being moved.

His breathing picking up the pace, Zim quickly checked the rest of him over. To his horror and dismay, there were even more bullet holes in Dib's chest and stomach, the entire front of his gown soaked in blood.

Now Zim was hyperventilating. He grabbed Dib's wrist and felt for a pulse. There wasn't any.

"DIB! COME ON!" Zim screamed as he slapped him hard on the cheek. "WAKE UP!" No response or reaction, so he slapped him again even harder. He could feel the tears coming but now wasn't the time to cry. "WAKE UP! ZIM DEMANDS THAT YOU WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!"

Again and again he hit the child in a desperate attempt to make him alive again. He wasn't stupid or insane; just in denial. He knew all too well what a dead body looked like from all those years in the battlefield as an Elite. But Dib couldn't be dead. He was still just a child. He had his whole life ahead of him. And he certainly didn't deserve to go out the way he did, covered in bullet holes.

Soon the slaps were reduced to weak taps, and Zim scooted away from the body and hugged his legs close to his chest, heaving and sobbing heavily. "Wake up...wake up..." he whispered over and over again, all rational thought gone from his mind. All he could think about was the last few moments of Dib's life as the bullets came raining down upon him. He could still hear Dib's screams and feel his hand grab onto his arm.

After several minutes of having a nervous breakdown, he snapped out of his grief and dared to look at the body that sat next to him. Had he have known that the hug Dib gave him earlier would be the very last, he would've hugged him back with all the strength he could muster instead of pushing him away.

Sniffling wetly, he crawled over to Dib's body, wrapped his arms around his neck, and buried his face in his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Dib," he whispered. And that was all he could say to the dead child.

Dib had given him the motivation to keep on living, yet his own life has just been abruptly taken from him by corrupted and twisted men.

Humanity truly was a cancer.

Zim's antennae perked up at the sound of car wheels squealing in the distance, and he immediately knew who it was.

...

Spider parked his Jaguar outside the wooded area and followed the smoke that arose from the trees. He eventually found the crashed Cruiser and pulled his loaded gun out. He didn't know whether the alien survived or not, but he wasn't going to take his chances. Walking very slowly around the ship, he peeked into the front window which had bullet holes and cracks.

There was nothing inside but the dead body of Dib Membrane. Maybe the alien was hiding inside? He aimed his gun at the window and fired away. "Come out, Zim!" he shouted as he continued to shoot. "I know you're hiding in there somewhere!"

But he couldn't have been further from the truth, as a dark figure slowly lowered itself down from a tree with its long spider legs and crept up behind the agent.

The gun in Spider's hand clicked after it shot its last bullet. Frustrated, Spider tossed aside the useless weapon and got out his radio once again. "This is Agent S-P! I need a search unit over here! The alien's ship crash-landed in the wooded area of-!"

Spider didn't get to finish as the sharp tip of one of Zim's spider legs stabbed right through his chest. He let out a gurgled gasp as he felt himself being lifted off the ground, and a black gloved hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys.

He barely tilted his head and looked down to see Zim standing on the ground and playfully twirling the keys around his finger, his ruby eyes glowing bright orange from the flames. A twisted grin formed on the Irken's lips. "I'm going to borrow your car for a while," he said in such a calm voice that also dripped with venom. "I'm sure you won't mind?"

The impaled man exhaled for the last time and went limp. Zim merely tossed the body aside and retracted his now bloody metallic leg before walking over to Dib. With a softened expression and sad eyes, he reached over and held the boy's hand, giving it one last gentle squeeze before leaving him in the ship. The authorities would soon be here and find his body along with Spider's, and they would no doubt lie to his family about what really happened, pinning the blame on the little green alien that escaped.

But soon none of that would matter, and as he stepped out of the woods and looked into the horizon, where he could see the blinking lights of Washington, D.C., he imagined it all burning and could hear the agonized screams of the humans in their final moments.

Zim grinned maliciously, feeling his inner Invader that he had tried so hard to keep at bay coming out and taking over once again.

Oh, yes. All of humanity will burn.

 **And so it begins...**

 **...**

 **Again, don't please kill me. :(**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi, dear readers and reviewers!**

 **First off...DON'T PANIC! I am NOT discontinuing this story! No way in heck! This story has too many followers and we have gone too far to quit now. The story will go on!**

 **Second, the reason I'm taking so long is because of two reasons. Number one: I'm still trying to figure out how to continue the story. I know how it ends, though. Number two, I want to quickly finish my story "Akari" since the 2012 TMNT series has already ended and the fans are moving on to the new show Rise of the TMNT (which is mediocre in my opinion).**

 **"Motivation" will continue! And I will update as soon as possible! So please be patient!**

 **Thanks! :)**


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